


Labour of Love

by grumby



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alcohol Mentions, F/M, M/M, Mutual Pining, Teen just to be safe, Weed mentions in passing, basically if you were ok with the podcast this'll be fine, blupjeans pine but taakitz immediately start dating, everyone is 21+, school au babey!, sex mentions but nothing explicit, sex references and swearing but no worse than the podcast itself, that's just how they are
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:54:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 72,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grumby/pseuds/grumby
Summary: Lup Taaco is in her final semester. She’s got exams to take and a dissertation to write, but neither of those are her biggest issue. The problem is, she’s been putting off asking Barry Bluejeans out for the last four years, and if she doesn’t do it now, she’ll lose the chance forever.So why is it still so damn hard?
Relationships: Barry Bluejeans/Lup, Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone)
Comments: 1010
Kudos: 382





	1. Chapter 1

Lup’s alarm goes off and she groans, patting around on her bedside table in an attempt to find her phone before she remembers – oh, yeah, she’d hidden it on the other side of the room so she couldn’t just hit snooze and go back to sleep. Gods, past-Lup is a dick. 

She rolls out of bed, still half-asleep, and stumbles to the other side of her room and disables the alarm. With the noise finally off, she takes a moment to orient herself. Where is she? What day is it? Why does she feel like she’s been run over by trains repeatedly all night? 

Oh, yeah. It’s the first day of class. That statement answers all three questions, really – she's in her dorm, it’s Monday, and she’d got absolutely hammered last night in an attempt to forget the fact she had class. Past-Lup is _such_ a dick. 

It’d been a fun night, though. She vaguely remembers getting a piggyback from Magnus, and Barry falling asleep on the dancefloor in mid-YMCA. She chuckles at that memory, before something else hits her – Taako making out with a tall, thin black dude. 

She cracks an evil grin and rubs her hands together. She’s gonna tease him relentlessly for that. 

But, back to the moment at hand – she's wearing a red t-shirt with a band logo on it and nothing else. Whose is this? It’s not hers or Taako’s. She tugs it over her head and examines the label, and squints at the little “BJB” written in marker on it. Oh, yeah, right. She’d been cold and Barry had pulled his shirt off to give to her. Ever the gentleman. That did leave the question of where her own clothes had gone, though. She looks around her room and thinks she spots the crop top she’d worn last night in one of the piles adorning her floor. So, in her drunken haze, she’d stripped off all her own clothes but kept on Barry’s shirt. Perfect drunk-Lup logic, honestly. 

She tries not to think about the fact that the real reasoning was probably that the shirt smelled of him, and that sleeping in it was the second-best thing to sleeping wrapped in his arms. 

She pulls on some leggings and a t-shirt that don’t seem too dirty, stuffing Barry’s shirt in her bag with her dinged-up old laptop. She grabs a glass of water and some paracetamol, chugging them down in the hopes she’ll be able to move her head without blinding hangover pain again soon, and checks her phone for the time. Fuck, she’s gonna be late if she’s not quick. Which is her own fault, really – that's what she gets for setting her alarm ten minutes before she needs to leave. No time for makeup, but she throws on the basics anyways. Lup’s got a brand to maintain. 

She scurries out of her room, careful not to wake Taako, who doesn’t need to be out ‘til later (lucky bastard) and hustles to the corner of her road, where Barry is waiting. 

“Hey, Lup,” he says, and she can see he’s trying not to look nervous about how late she’s making him. 

“Hey, Barry, sorry,” she replies, and they start walking at a rapid pace towards their class building. “Weird question, but what were you wearing when you got up this morning?” 

“Uh, just my jeans,” he replies, rubbing the back of his neck, embarrassedly. “I don’t know where my shirt went.” 

“Ah-hah!” She cries, fishing it out of her bag. “I was wearing this and nothing else. Between the two of us, we made one full outfit.” He laughs and takes the shirt, cramming it in his own bag. She winces. “I probably should've washed it before giving it back, huh?” 

“Uh, no, honestly I think most of the beer stains on it were mine. After I fell asleep on the dancefloor, you wearing it can’t have made it any worse.” 

“Forget washing the shirt, I should’ve had a shower,” she says, and he laughs. She chuckles along. “I wasn’t sure you’d remember that, though. I thought you’d have been too drunk,” she says. “One second you’re doing the YMCA right next to me and the next you’re horizontal?” 

“I don’t remember it. Taako videoed it and sent it to me,” he shakes his head ruefully. “Do you know, I used to be a model student before I met you two. I didn’t even pass out drunk one time.” 

“Yeah, but now you’re interesting.” 

He shrugs. Once upon a time, he’d have looked away, blushed and stammered at that comment. As much fun as it had been to tease the poor guy, she’s glad he’s learned to joke around. “Yeah, that’s fair.” 

They walk in comfortable silence for a moment. “How’s the dissertation coming?” She asks. 

He winces. “It sure is coming.” 

“Ouch, that bad?” 

“You ever written something and then come back five days later and struggled to understand what you were even talking about?” 

“Only every day,” she grins. “It’s fine. You’re basically a genius, you’ll do great.” He flushes, and she smiles. Cute. “Wanna come to the library tonight? We can motivate each other to get some work done.” 

“Only if we’re actually gonna do some work this time,” he replies. “Last time you spent three hours making me rate dog pictures.” 

“That was important and relevant! Bozo the dog deserves to be seen.” 

They arrive at their lecture hall, and, surprisingly, everyone else is still waiting outside. Barry checks his watch. “Hey, we’re actually on time for once. Uh, I mean -” 

“Damn, alright, Bear, way to call me out. I get it, I’m tardy,” she says. “The real question is how the fuck you’re this awake. You kept up with me shot-for-shot last night, and elves metabolise alcohol better than humans.” 

“Uh, the secret is lots of coffee,” he says, pulling a thermos from his bag. “This is my fifth brew today.” 

She whistles. “Christ, Barold, it’s, like, nine am.” 

“Yeah, and I’ve only been up since eight thirty.” 

She laughs, making grabby hands, and he passes her the thermos. She takes a long swig – it's blacker than she’d want it, and with much less sugar, but since they’d become friends, she’d gotten used to Barry’s boring coffee order. She passes it back as their lecturer finally appears, waving them into the hall. They take their usual seats near the fire escape at the back, unpacking their bags. Lup slides her laptop onto the desk and groans as the “low battery” icon appears in the centre of the screen. Wordlessly, Barry slides her his charger - this is a pretty common occurrence, and he’s used to her shit by now. She mouths a thank you as she plugs it in. 

The lecturer starts up on the final semester of Magic Theory. Neither Lup nor Barry take any notes. What’s the point when they’ve got a friend like Lucretia in their class? Lup catches a glimpse of the girl scribbling with both hands, generating a perfect word-for-word transcript of the lecture. She’ll buy her lunch to make up for relentlessly stealing her work. 

Instead, Lup boots up Fantasy Facebook and starts searching around. She narrows down her search – the person she’s looking for attends the university, and looked to be in his final year, like them, and she knows roughly what he looks like – tall, black, dreads, and, while she hadn’t seen his face, she knows Taako’s type well enough to guess what the guy looks like. 

“Who are you looking for?” Barry whispers, peering over her shoulder. He’s playing Tetris on his laptop rather than take notes. 

“Some guy Taako was sucking the face off last night,” she whispers back. “I wanna do my research.” 

Barry nods. “Oh, uh, I think his name was Kravitz? He introduced himself to me after our second round of drinks. Or possibly after the third. It’s all kind of a blur.” 

Lup grins. “Barry, you’re a lifesaver. Thank you.” She filters the search further, and gets only a single hit. Pulling it up, her grin only gets wider as she realises he is _exactly_ Taako’s type – attractive and goth in equal measure. “Bear, look, he’s got a pet raven.” 

“Holy shit,” Barry chuckles. “That’s probably what he told Taako right before they started making out.” 

Lup laughs, but slaps a hand over her mouth when the lecturer shoots her a dirty look. She tries to look apologetic. 

“Fuck, Barry, that’s so funny,” she says, and Barry grins. “Wait, holy fuck, he’s studying _mortuary sciences?!”_

“What, like, to be an undertaker? Holy shit,” Barry says. “This is the single most goth man alive.” 

“Fuck, I have so much ammunition to tease Taako with,” Lup grins. “He’s gonna hate this.” She closes Facebook, instead turning to see Barry’s screen. He’s stopped playing Tetris to play Snake, and she loads the game in her browser too. “Bet I can get a higher score than you,” she challenges him with a grin. 

“You’re on,” he says, sounding serious, but with a smile on his face. 

The lecturer finally wraps up, and Lup shoves her laptop into her bag and stands up, stretching her arms above her head. “Another hour of hard work,” Barry grins at her, and she laughs. 

“Hard work getting your ass kicked at Snake.” 

“At least I won chess!” He protests. “And chess requires way more skill.” 

“Sure, babe,” she says, but before he can respond, she waves at Lucretia. “Lucy! Hey!” 

The girl smiles and heads up the stairs towards the back of the hall. “Hey, Lup. Loved your dancing last night, Barry. Some real smooth moves there.” She flushes even as she says it, but Lup grins as they file out through the fire escape. It’s nice to see Lup’s collection of nerds coming out of their shells. 

Barry, on the other hand, buries his face in his hands and groans. “Gods, did Taako send that video to everyone we know?” 

“Uh, he had it on his Fantasy Snapchat story,” she says. “And he has, like, everyone in the school on there. He captioned it ‘nerd moves.’” 

Barry groans again, longer this time. Lup pats him on the back. “It’s okay, babe. Most people probably won’t even recognise you. Right, Creesh?” 

“Uh, the next video on there was a closeup of his face as you pretend to do CPR on him,” Lucretia supplies. 

Lup winces. She’s gonna have to check that, make Taako take it down if there’s any actual lip contact on the kiss of life. That might be a bit too overt. 

“Oh, gods, my life is over,” Barry says. “Please tell me he didn’t get any of me after I took my shirt off.” 

“No,” Lucretia says, thoughtfully, and Barry sighs in relief. “None that he posted, anyway. But he might be saving those for blackmail.” He groans again, this time with feeling, and both girls laugh. 

“Lucy, we were gonna get a coffee. Wanna come with? I’ll buy, and you can tell us what that lecture was about.” 

Lucretia rolls her eyes good-naturedly. “The nice shop on the other side of campus?” 

“The expensive one?” Lup scowls, but relents. “Fine. You're lucky that I meant to say Barry’s paying.” 

“Hey,” Barry protests half-heartedly. Lup winks at him. 

They head over to the Davy Lamp, chatting about their holidays. Lucretia had spent the Easter visiting relatives in the south, and she has a million and one stories about their hijinks. It’s almost enough to make Lup wish she had family she could visit. Or, family that she liked she could visit. 

“Yeah, I didn’t do much,” Barry says, as they settle in to the comfy leather chairs of their regular table in the corner next to the end of the bar. “Tried to write my dissertation, gave up, went out with Lup and Taako and apparently every single person in the school knows how that story ends.” 

They all laugh again, and Lucretia asks, “how about you, Lup?” 

“Oh,” she says. “Much the same as Barry, really. Struggled to write even a single word, got drunk.” Lucretia giggles. 

“It’s easy for you to laugh,” Barry says. “We all know you finished your dissertation in the first semester.” 

She shrugs. “Guilty as charged. That’s what happens when you can write three hundred words a minute with each hand.” 

“Lucy, I will give you literally any amount of money to write my dissertation for me,” Barry says. “Name your price.” 

“Creesh, I’m offering something money can’t buy: my body,” Lup winks seductively. Lucretia flushes, and Lup laughs. She loves being friends with these nerds. They're so easy to tease. 

Ren appears at the bar, and leans over. “Regular drinks, guys?” 

“Something cheap for me,” Barry says. “Apparently I’m paying.” 

“What’s the most expensive item on the menu?” Lup muses, a hand on her chin as she acts pensive. 

“We’ll take three tap waters!” Barry says, loudly, to drown her out. 

Ren laughs. “A white coffee with sugar, a black coffee, and a strawberries and cream Frappuccino it is.” 

She disappears, and all three of them have to lean in to hear each other over the coffee machine working. “So, Lucy, what was the lecture about?” 

Lucretia pulls her notes from her bag. They’re in a beautiful cursive shorthand that Barry and Lup couldn’t hope to read without her to translate. “Summoning,” she says. “It was honestly pretty basic. I think she was easing us back into it. Uh, most of the stuff she mentioned was in the textbook? If you go over that you’ll be fine.” 

Barry nods. Lup knows that’s basically his favourite type of lecture – one in which he can go away and ingest the information from a book afterwards at his own pace. “Okay, great. I wish my physics lectures were this easy.” 

“Yeah,” Lup says. “Same for evocation. Isn’t it enough I can cast a dope-ass fireball? Why do I need to know about energy flow or whatever?” 

Ren reappears with their drinks, sliding them over the counter. Lup reaches up and distributes them – white coffee to Lucretia, black to Barry, and the Frappuccino for herself. 

“Yeah, absolutely. At least magic theory is easy,” Barry says, but Lucretia grins. 

“I wonder if you’ll still be saying that by the time exams roll around.” 

“Gods, don’t say the E-word,” Lup grumbles. 

“On a related topic, do you wanna come to the library with us tonight, Creesh?” Barry asks. “We were gonna go over some dissertation work. I could use your eye as a proof-reader.” 

Lup frowns, but tries to keep it to herself by taking a sip of her drink. On one hand, it makes perfect sense to invite Lucretia. She’s a literary genius, after all. On the other, she’d liked their after-school study sessions being Lup and Barry time. 

“Ah, I can’t tonight, Barry, sorry,” Lucretia replies. “I’ve got work. Maybe another time?” 

Lup breathes a sigh of relief, feeling selfish all the same. “Sure, whenever,” Barry says back, seemingly unbothered. “Just me and you tonight, then, Lup.” It’s not even fair how much her heart flutters at hearing him say that. 

“Speaking of,” Lucretia says. “I’m going to have to dash, soon, I've got my creative writing lecture -” 

“Boo!” Lup heckles. “You can cut class, Lucy, you’re defo a better writer than your lecturer.” 

Lucretia flushes, but shrugs. “Maybe, but I can’t ruin my perfect attendance record now.” 

“Nerd,” Barry interjects. Both girls look at him, surprised, and he shrugs. “I figured Lup’d say it if I didn’t, and I wanted to get in there first.” 

“That’s not true!” Lup protests. “I’d never say that to our Lucy. Only you deserve such a comment.” 

He pulls a face. “You’re only saying that because she gives you her notes.” 

“That’s neither here nor there,” Lup replies, and Lucretia laughs. 

Lup’s pretty upset when she and Barry eventually part ways. He’s got his physics lecture, and she’s got a magic theory seminar with Taako. Even though she’s just spent all morning with him, and they’ve got plans to meet up that evening, she wishes they could skip class, and maybe she could lie with her head in his lap and - 

Woah, okay, Lup, tone it down, she tells herself. They’re just friends. 

Now, Lup’s not in denial. She knows she _wants_ to date Barry Bluejeans. And, sometimes, she even thinks he feels the same way? The problem is verbalising it. What can she say to him? He’s just so – he's so cute, and kind, and loving, and she’s hot-headed and abrasive and teasing, and he deserves so much better than her. 

That’s the kind of thing she’s told Taako a dozen times, and each time he’s sighed and told her it’s not true, he’d be lucky to have her. Only now, the conversation has taken on a new degree of urgency – at some point, they’re going to graduate. And unless Lup asks soon, they’re going to go on with their lives independent of each other, and she’ll have missed her chance. 

That’s all running through her head as she sits in her magic theory seminar waiting for Taako. He’s pathologically late, worse than her, and so the lecturer starts without him. 

“Just catch him up when he arrives, Lup, please,” she says, and launches into their discussion for the day. 

Taako breezes in ten minutes late with a Styrofoam cup in his hand and takes his seat next to Lup, nodding an apology at the lecturer. Lup nudges him. “Where’ve you been, goofus?” 

He gestures with his Starbucks cup. “Take a wild fuckin’ guess.” 

“I wanted to talk to you,” Lup says, quietly, so the lecturer won’t hear, “about boys.” 

“Gods, what did Barold say this time?” 

“Did I say Barold?” Lup says, with an eyebrow raised. 

Taako’s face splits in a grin. “You’ve got a new boy? What happened to Barold? Lulu, spill the beans on this fucking drama. Wait, don’t tell me now, I wanna get popcorn first.” 

She leans back in her chair. “Well, the boy I wanted to talk about is, maybe six-two? He’s pretty muscular, black, dreads. He’s got a pet raven.” 

Taako’s face falls as she describes Kravitz. “I didn’t know he had a raven,” he says, as if trying to justify making out with the guy. “Wait, how do you know he’s got a raven?” 

“I looked him up on Fantasy Facebook,” she says. “Barold told me his name.” 

“Gods, I’m gonna kill that boy...” Taako mutters. “Show me.” Lup pulls up the page, and Taako leans in. She raises an eyebrow as he hums appreciatively at a picture of Kravitz, wearing only shorts, at the beach. “Hey, c’mon, that’s objectively hot,” he says. “Hey, uh, does Barold have his phone number?” 

Lup’s eyes widen. “Taako, you didn’t get his number?” 

“When was I meant to? He bought me a drink, we danced, we made out, and then he said he was gonna be sick -” 

Lup squawks a laugh, and everyone looks at her. She shrugs. “Sorry.” 

Everyone else goes back to the class discussion, and she turns back to Taako. “That’s so romantic. No wonder you’re so enamoured.” 

“At least he didn’t pass out during the YMCA -” 

“Hey,” Lup says. “That’s hilarious. And apparently you put a video of me doing CPR on him on your Fantasy Snapchat? Please tell me I didn’t actually give him the kiss of life.” 

“Oh, yeah, full lip contact and everything -” She scowls, and he relents. “No, unfortunately, you just did the chest compressions. I did get a picture of you wearing his shirt, though.” 

Lup grins. “Yeah, I woke up in it. He didn’t even remember giving it to me.” 

“And you got on at me about Kravitz being romantic -” 

“Hey, Barry is chivalrous! I was cold!” 

“Sure,” Taako says. “Are you sure he didn’t just want to take his shirt off? In front of a certain someone?” 

Lup squints at him. “In front of... Magnus?” 

He rolls his eyes and swats at her. “No, dipshit.” 

“Anyway!” She says. “We weren’t talking about Barry. We were talking about Kravitz. He said he was gonna be sick, and then?” 

“Well, that’s it. I don’t think it was the kissing that made him sick. I sure hope it wasn’t,” Taako says, “but he had been drinking, like, a lot, and he dashed off to the bathrooms and I didn’t see him again. That’s when the YMCA started.” 

Lup hums. She’s starting to measure time last night as pre- and post-YMCA, because it’s roughly the point her memory turns to swiss cheese that’s been used as target practice. 

“Are you sure you didn’t see him again? Or were you just too drunk to remember?” 

Taako winces. “Okay, that’s a good point. I don’t know. I remember – I remember Barry giving you his shirt, and Magnus giving you a piggyback, and you falling off -” 

“Did I fall off? That explains some of these bruises,” Lup mutters to herself. 

“I don’t know. I don’t remember seeing him again.” 

“Well, we’ve got his name, at least. It’s better than a glass slipper.” Lup scrolls down Kravitz’s Facebook, looking at his other pictures. They’re mostly of him with his bird or on holiday, but there’s a video of him playing a kazoo. “Fuck, I wish we weren’t in class so I could listen to this.” 

“Oh, shit, he’s studying mortuary science? Like, corpses?” Taako says, pointing at Kravitz’s bio. 

“Yeah, did he not tell you? I thought that was why you were so into him. He’s, like, _so_ goth.” 

“He is, right? I’m gonna send him a message tonight,” Taako says. 

“Oh, someone’s moving fast. Are you sure you won’t look desperate?” 

“Lup, I’m not taking relationship advice from you,” Taako says. “You’ve wanted to ask out Barry Bluejeans for four fucking years.” 

She scowls. “I’m taking it slow.” 

“Lup, I’ve seen snails take it faster.” 

“Snail porn?” Lup asks. “Never struck me as something you’d be into.” 

He bats at her, but she leans forward to contribute something to the class discussion, and he’s forced to act responsibly as the class’ attention is suddenly directed towards them. 

“Anyway,” she continues. “Barry’s apartment is, like, a half hour’s walk away. If I was with him, there’s no way I’d be going _all_ the way back there, so you’d have to get used to vacating so we can have, uh, _date nights_.” 

He pulls a face – clearly, he hadn’t considered what Lup and Barry getting together would entail. Lup, on the other hand, had considered it in great detail. “Okay,” he says. “Actually, take it as slow as you like.” 

Lup tries not to get sucked back into that daydream, but it’s far too late now. She and Barry, together... What she wouldn’t give to kiss those lips, or have him braid her hair, or paint each other's nails. What wouldn’t she give to sleep wrapped around him, and wake up in the morning to his face? 

All she has to do, she reminds herself, is tell him. 

And she still can’t bring herself to do it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy, I hope you all enjoyed ~~this completely different and original fic~~ yet more mutual pining Blups!!! I really love this first chapter, it was a real blast to write, so if you enjoyed it too please leave a comment and let me know <3
> 
> Also, just in case anyone hasn't seen my last note, I'm going down to one upload a week on Thursdays, now. I just couldn't keep doing two a week, but these chapters are generally longer than my usual, so you won't be losing out! Also I have no idea how long this will be - I have thirty chapters planned or written but I still have a bunch of ideas, so it's gonna be a long one!!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!!! I hope you'll stick around, or maybe follow my [tumblr?](https://sgrumby.tumblr.com/) Thank you!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I upped the rating of this fic to T, because obviously there's sex and alcohol mentions. Again, though, it's no worse than the podcast, and if you made it through the first chapter, you'll be fine - it's all in that same vein. Hope you enjoy!

Barry leans in and kisses her, and his lips are so soft on Lup’s. He’s warm, and cuddly, and he smells so, so good, and Lup’s melting, this is it, she’s going out like the wicked witch of the west. 

He leans back and cups her face tenderly, and he smiles, a twinkle in his eye, and Lup feels like she’ll burst with happiness. “Lup,” he says. 

“Barry,” she replies, knowing there’s a dumb grin on her face. 

“Lup? Hey, Lup?” He says, getting more insistent. She’s suddenly filled with confusion – what's going on? Where is she? – and then she opens her eyes. 

She’s in the library. Barry’s stood over her and shaking her shoulder. 

“Hey, Lup,” he says, looking relieved. “I was about to fuckin’ dial 911. You were really out of it.” 

She’s curled up in the comfy chair in the library she always takes, her legs tucked up under her. “Fuck,” she says, disappointment yawning like a pit in her stomach. 

“Are you okay?” 

“Yeah,” she says, trying not to let anything show. “Yeah, I’m fine. Weird dream.” 

She’d read somewhere that dreams were a reflection of your subconscious thoughts. She’d heard that, like, running away from something can mean you’re avoiding your emotions, that kind of bull. She’s not really sure she believes it, but, admittedly, dreaming about kissing Barry doesn’t leave much to interpretation. It doesn’t help that she’s been having that dream (and less PG rated variants thereof) basically every night. 

“I only dream of my dissertation, these days,” Barry laments. “I miss the days where I got chased by clowns down a water slide.” 

She gives an unconvincing laugh and leans forward, rooting through her bag. “Yeah, me too. Uh, here, I’ve got a new draft of the last few chapters of my dissertation, if you wanna have a quick glance over them -” 

“Yeah, sure, lemme grab mine,” he says. “What did Taako say about Kravitz?” 

“He’s gonna send him a Facebook message tonight,” she says. “Which seems real quick to me, you know? I’d give it a few days. You don’t wanna come on too strong.” She says it, and a second later her brain registers the irony of her saying that to him. 

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” he says, with an odd look on his face that Lup doesn’t know how to read. “But, you know, Kravitz seemed plenty into him the other night, so.” 

Lup chuckles. “He sure did.” She skims over Barry’s paper. As usual, it’s practically flawless, with the only issue being a tendency towards word-vomit and run-on sentences. She draws in some commas and full stops with a red pen, crossing through unnecessary clauses. 

“Uh, here,” he says. “You put inclusive; I think you meant exclusive? And, uh, here, you’ve put the data in wrong.” 

She examines it, her eyes narrowing, and she sighs. “Fuck, you’re right. This is what I get for writing post-midnight.” She shows him the paper she’s been writing on. “As per, your data is fucking flawless. You’ve just got some overlong sentences here.” 

“I’ve got a lot to say,” he shrugs. “Thanks.” 

“No problemo, Bear,” she replies. “It’s nothing Lucy can’t fix. Get her to help you with your formatting.” 

“Ah, if I could nail her down. She's somehow managing to be busier than me, and she’s finished her dissertation already.” 

“They’ve got her full-time at the newspaper, now,” Lup says, hardly focusing on the conversation, instead reading over Barry’s annotations on her paper. She looks back up to say something more, but she spots a tall, black man across the crowded library and gasps. “Barry, look! That’s Kravitz!” 

He’s stood at the doorway of a study room, turning the door handle and looking lost. As Lup watches, he turns and walks away. Barry pivots in his seat, craning his neck to see over the crowds. “Where?” 

“Over that way, he just wandered off,” Lup replies, craning her neck to see if she can spot him again. 

“Are you sure? I don’t see him,” Barry says. 

“Yeah, c’mon, I spent all morning stalking him on Facebook! I recognise the guy.” 

Barry chuckles. “True, true. Oh, look, is that him?” 

Kravitz wanders back into Lup’s eyeline again, heading back towards the door of his study room. As they watch, he turns the handle again and tries a key in the lock. Clearly it doesn’t work, because he puts his head in his hands. 

“Holy shit,” Lup says. “Has he locked himself out? He’s the world’s biggest dork.” 

Barry laughs. “Oh my gods. Even I’ve never managed that.” 

Kravitz bends down and fiddles with the door handle, but there’s still no movement. He turns and slumps against the wall, the very image of despair. 

Lup covers her mouth to keep from dissolving into laughter. “I’ve never seen a sadder man,” she guffaws. 

Barry grins, too, and says, “do you think we should help him?” 

“Yeah, I’ll go cast a quick Knock. Watch my stuff?” 

“Sure,” he says, already with his nose back in his dissertation. Lup strides in Kravitz’s direction. 

“Hey, my dude, need a hand?” 

“Taako!” He says, still slouched on the floor. “Oh, gods, this is embarrassing – I -” 

“I’m gonna stop you there,” Lup says. “As much as I love impersonating my brother, I don’t want you trying to make out with me.” 

“I wouldn’t -” He starts scrambling to his feet. 

“You sure did last night, my dude,” she shoots him a wink. 

“Oh,” he says, the blood draining from his face as he licks his lips nervously. “You’re Lup?” 

“Yeah, natch. What’s the problem here?” 

“Well, I, uh, locked myself out,” he says. “Of my study room. And then I went to get the spare key, but I left the key in the lock on the other side, so it wouldn’t turn -” 

She leans in and casts Knock, and the door swings open. Kravitz’s face is a mask of relief. “Gods, thank you. This – I've had nightmares about this exact scenario.” 

“No problem, my dude,” Lup says. “Hey, gimme your phone?” 

“What - as payment?” He stammers, looking terrified. 

She blinks in confusion at him, before what he’s saying sinks in, and she laughs incredulously. “No, dipshit, so I can put Taako’s number in. You ran off to be sick before he could get your digits.” 

“Oh, yeah, that makes more sense,” he replies, looking embarrassed. “Sorry.” He fishes his phone out of his jeans, and she takes it from him, quickly keying in her brother’s number from memory. “Taako... talked about me?” 

“Well, no, I saw you two kissing,” she says. “But, for what it’s worth, he looked like he was enjoying it.” 

Kravitz looks pretty happy with that, so Lup heads back towards Barry. 

“You gave him Taako’s number?” He asks. 

“Yeah, yeah, I figured it’d save Taako looking like a stalker on Facebook,” she says. “The guy is a _massive_ dork, we were totally right. I told him to give me his phone, so I could put Taako’s number in, right? And he thought I wanted it in exchange for opening the door.” 

Barry laughs out loud at that, garnering some dirty looks from the library’s other patrons. “Gods, I can’t believe Taako’s into him. I thought his ideal man was, like, suave and sophisticated.” 

“Nah, Taako’s ideal man is handsome,” she says. “That’s about it.” 

He chuckles again. “Anyways, we should probably do some actual work. I don’t know about you but I’ve got another couple of thousand words to do.” 

She groans. “I really don’t want to, though. Let’s go back to mine instead.” 

“And we can study?” 

She narrows her eyes. “... Yes.” 

He laughs. “C’mon, Lup, we need to get some work done. There’re only a few weeks ‘til this is due.” 

She scowls. “Nerd.” 

He shrugs, not replying, already scribbling in his workbook. She watches him for a second. It’s cute, the way he’s so focused and intent. He puts the pen between his teeth and chews as he flips the page in his textbook, scanning for a certain line, and then starts writing again. He’s so ridiculously adorable. She – she's _blushing,_ which is ridiculous, because Lup Taaco does not blush. 

She turns to her own dissertation. Even writing about the energy flows of an evocation spell is better than blushing over Barry Bluejeans’ admittedly adorable face. 

“Come in for a coffee, Barold?” She says, as they approach her house. 

It’s already dark outside, and Barry’s walking her home. Lup appreciates it, because she and Taako’s apartment is fifteen-minute detour from his route home, so she always makes sure to invite him in for dinner or a drink when they arrive. He rarely takes her up on it, though. She’s not sure whether that’s his trademark anxiety or something else, but she always feels a little disappointed to see him go. 

“Eh, why not,” he says, and she smiles. “It’s cool out, and I forgot my jacket. Could do with warming up.” 

“If it’s warming up you want,” she grins, “we could make it a vodka.” 

She tries not to imagine the other things they could do to _warm up._

He chuckles. “Best not. It’s still a half-hour walk home, I don’t want to pass out. As I’m wont to do, apparently.” 

She laughs again. Gods, him falling asleep during the YMCA is the funniest fucking thing she’s ever seen. “Yeah, apparently. Although, own it, Bear, you did drink a fuckin’ lot.” 

He winces. “Yeah. My kidneys probably won’t thank me for that later.” 

“Ah, you’re young. That’s old-Barry's problem.” 

“Even so, I’ll stick to coffee,” he says, laughing. 

She sticks the key in the lock, throwing the door open. “Ko, I’m home!” She calls, at the top of her lungs. There’s no reply. “I thought it’d be best to say it in case he’s boning down or something,” she says. “That has happened before, too. Utterly traumatising. He never leaves a sock on the door or anything.” 

He chuckles. “Yeah, I can imagine. Is he not here?” 

“Nah, he’s probably asleep. Lazy fucker,” she says, not even trying to disguise the affection in her voice. “I’ll wake him up after you go so we can make dinner. Unless you wanna stay? Stir fry tonight,” she wheedles, kicking off her shoes on the mat. 

“Ah, no, it’s okay. I don’t want to impose,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck and dumping his bag by the front door. 

“Barold J. Bluejeans, you have been my best friend for four years. You would not be imposing if you stayed over for dinner one time.” He shrugs, so she says, “what’s your plan for dinner tonight, then? Microwave meal? C’mon, Bluejeans. Treat yourself. You can help me prepare, that way I won’t have to wake Taako up and deal with his grumpy-ass post nap face.” 

He laughs. “Well, so long as you only want me for selfish reasons, I’m sure I can manage it. What’s a stir fry entail?” 

She smiles at him. “Chicken, this time. Sometimes we do prawn or beef, but it’s more expensive.” She turns to the fridge and pulls out some carrot, beansprouts, pepper and onions, dumping them down on the counter. “Here, peel these,” she says, thrusting the carrots into his hands. “Then slice ‘em real thin.” 

He sets about doing exactly that, and so Lup turns away to start cutting the chicken into rough cubes. The quick, practised chop-chop-chop of her knife strikes a harsh contrast with Barry’s occasional strikes, but when she checks he’s cutting the carrots into perfectly even slices and taking a moment to adjust the knife after each stroke. 

It’s very Barry, really, to take his time and be methodical on a task that others wouldn’t even consider. Lup and Taako chop carrots in seconds with ease, but here’s Barry, making every slice perfect. 

She smiles as she watches, and he seems to notice she’s taking a time-out. “I’m sure it’s not up to your standards,” he says, but she shakes her head. 

“It’s looking good, babe. Bit slow, maybe, but me ‘n’ Ko have been doing this a long time.” She throws the chicken into the wok with some oil, starting work on the pepper. “What were you gonna have tonight? Out of curiosity?” 

“Uh, you hit the nail on the head earlier. Something microwaveable. Probably a curry.” He says. “I’m done with the carrots, you want me to wash some beansprouts?” 

“Yeah, that’d be great, babe,” she replies. “I’ll teach you to cook. I hate the idea of you eating shit every night.” 

“Not - not every night. Sometimes I make a salad to go with it,” he protests. “But learning to cook does sound good. If I go on to do a master’s, y’know...” 

Lup nods. “You won’t be able to leech meals off us, any more.” Barry laughs, so she continues. “You not decided yet, then? On a master’s, I mean.” 

“Nah, I’m still thinking about taking a gap year. Get some work experience in, you know? I figure it’ll look good on a résumé if I can say I have some real-world skills,” he says, and she nods. That makes perfect sense to her. “You still thinking a year out, too?” 

They’ve discussed their futures, before, but neither of them has really concrete plans. Barry might want to go into teaching. Lup wants to do further education, but beyond that? She’s not sure. 

“Yeah, I think so. T wants to go Neverwinter for cookin’, you know? And I can’t - I’m not leaving him. So we’re taking a year out, see what our grades are like, and then if he gets in there, I’ll apply for the university’s evocation program,” she says, acting as if it’s all chill. 

Really, her plans are even more complex than that. The Neverwinter university’s master’s program was good for evocation, but as she’d been researching, she’d found herself checking out their page on physics and magic theory, which was what Barry wanted to do. 

The thought of leaving him was almost as gut-wrenching as the idea of leaving Taako, and Lup’s not sure how to even _begin_ to process that. 

“Any ideas where you’re gonna go? If you do go for a master’s?” She tries, casually. 

“Yeah, Neverwinter sounded good, actually. They’ve got a huge library, and the physics program is meant to be good. We might be classmates, again,” he says, and Lup’s heart soars. “Or Goldcliff. They’re pretty good, too.” 

Lup tries not to physically flinch at the idea of Barry going to a university on the other side of the country. She sets her jaw and looks away, settling for a mumbled, “oh, neat.” 

“I’d like Neverwinter, though, ideally,” he says, looking away. “It’d be nice – you know, to – to be close to you. And, and Taako.” 

Her eyes widen, and she looks at him. He’s blushing. 

“Barry -” 

“What’s up, losers,” Taako breezes in, and Lup almost groans. Taako’s got “walking in on tender moments between Lup and Barry” down to an art form. His hair is ruffled, and he’s wearing pyjamas; to the average onlooker it’d look unkempt but attractive, but Lup can tell he’s probably spent twenty minutes on it. “Ew, gods, Lulu, you’re letting Barold help with the cooking? I thought after the dumplings incident we’d agreed he was not to be allowed anywhere near my kitchen again?” 

“He’s only cutting, Taako, and I made sure he kept his fingers away from the blades,” she says. “Even Barry can’t fuck up peeling carrots.” 

Taako hums doubtfully, but Lup ignores him, dumping all the vegetables in the pot with the chicken and stirring. “Put the noodles on to boil, would you, Bear?” 

Barry stands up to grab the pack, but Taako slaps them from his hands. “Don’t even go near that stove, Barold, you’re a damn fire hazard. Sit down.” 

He rolls his eyes but does what he’s told. “So, Taako, you’re going to culinary school?” 

“Fuck yeah,” Taako grins as he drops the noodles in the water. “It’d be a crime not to share this genius with the world, right? I can probably teach them more than they can teach me.” 

“Yeah, and maybe they’ll teach you to make your stuff taste less bad,” Lup interjects, and Taako squawks. 

“Hey! You’re just mad your recipe for roast chicken isn’t as good as mine -” 

“Excuse _you,_ I follow Auntie’s recipe to the _letter.”_

“And I improved it -” 

“You can’t improve perfection,” Lup says. “Barold, you’re gonna have to mediate here. We’ll make you a roast chicken each -” 

“Lulu, that’d cost so much fucking money,” Taako replies. “And I’m not using Barold as mediator, he thinks Kraft mac and cheese is a delicacy.” 

“It is when all you’ve had for weeks is baked beans on toast,” Barry inputs mildly. 

Both twins turn to stare at him. 

“What, it’s - it’s British! It’s exotic,” he says. “It’s what people mean when they say an English breakfast.” 

Lup turns back to Taako. “You’re right. Magnus can judge. Barold is dead to me.” 

“She said she’d teach me to cook,” Barry supplies. “Which, even I’ll admit, is an uphill battle.” 

Taako looks at Lup, his eyebrows slightly raised. “Yeah, that’d be lots of hours in the kitchen together, huh?” 

She shoots him a Patented Twin Look™ – the one that says, _stop talking right now immediately._ He clamps his lips together, but waggles his eyebrows. She hurls the wooden spoon she’s been using to stir the stir fry with at him, but he ducks, and it flies over his head. Barry watches the whole thing, amused but clearly confused. 

“I agreed before I found out how bad it was,” Lup says, turning back to her wok and lowering the heat. “I didn’t know you’d gone _weeks_ eating only beans on toast.” 

“Well, that’s not something I advertise,” he chuckles. “I feel like I’d get a lot of this kind of reaction.” 

“Quite deservingly,” Taako shoots back, taking the noodles off the heat. “I can’t believe this. I was really starting to warm to you -” 

“No you weren’t,” Barry says, smiling. “What about that time you transmuted all my jeans to cargo shorts?” 

Taako cackles as he drains the water from the pot. “Oh, man, that was so fuckin’ funny.” 

“Ignore him, babe,” Lup says. “You’re still my friend, even if your taste is atrocious. Pass the soy?” 

Barry grabs the soy sauce, and Lup squirts a good drizzle into the pan, tossing the veg to get an even distribution. Taako grabs half a lime from the fridge and throws it, and Lup catches it with barely a glance and squeezes it into the pan. She scoops up some honey and dumps it in, too, and stirs it. It’s starting to smell pretty fuckin’ good, if she does say so herself. 

Barry’s stomach growls loudly. Taako laughs. “You’re hungry, huh?” 

“It’s been a while since I’ve had anything fresh,” he says. “Probably since the last time I was here.” 

Lup grabs a ladle and heaps a portion onto a plate, sliding it down the counter to where Barry’s sat. He stands up and grabs some cutlery from the drawer, laying the table as Taako drops into his chair to wait for Lup to dish up his portion. 

She leaves about a third of the stir fry in the pan. Normally, she’d freeze it, and they’d reheat it and eat it for lunch the next day or dinner in a few days’ time, but she thinks she’ll give today’s leftovers to Barry. It sucks to imagine him, alone at home, eating microwave meals in front of the TV every night. 

She takes her seat, and they all tuck in. She’s not really focused on the meal, though, instead watching Barry; his eyes widen and he makes an appreciative noise as he takes his first bite. “Oh, shit,” he says, his mouth full. “It’s so good.” 

She smiles, quashing the butterflies in her stomach at his grin. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who said you can't learn things from fanfic? That stir fry recipe is legit and very good. You just dump in whatever fucking vegetables you've got with some soy sauce, honey and lime juice, and add noodles. I ate that shit every day at uni tbqh
> 
> Anyways, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a comment and a kudos if you did <3


	3. Chapter 3

Lup walks into the room, nose in a book. Not even a good book. It’s Fantasy Physics 101. When Lup had signed up for evocation, she hadn’t realised it’d involve so much damn science. And math. They ruined _magic_ by putting math in it. What the fuck is up with that? And Lup herself had ruined Wednesday, when she doesn’t even have any classes, by deciding to study. 

Taako’s draped over the couch, and so she lifts his legs, drops down, and lowers his legs across her lap again, resting her book on his shins. She looks up at him. “Who’re you texting?” 

“Kravitz,” he says. “Thanks for giving him my number. Saved me the effort.” 

“No big,” she says. “You owe me one, though.” 

He squints at her. “You already owed me one. From when I made lactose-free lasagne last semester when Barold was coming over.” 

“Fuck,” Lup scowls. “Fine. We’re even.” Taako goes back to tapping away. “How’s it going?” 

“Eh, he’s cool. Or, not cool. He’s a massive dork,” Taako says. “But, like, he’s hot. And that’s what matters in the grand scheme. And he’s a nerd, but also kinda funny.” 

“He locked himself out of his study room in the library,” Lup supplies. “And left the key in the lock, so the spare wouldn’t go in.” 

“Oh my gods,” Taako says. “Yeah, case in point. He’s a _massive_ nerd. He studies _mortuary sciences,_ but he’s also in the orchestra. Apparently, he plays literally every instrument known to man.” 

“Huh,” Lup says. “Maybe he could offer a two-in-one service. Y’know, undertaker and organist.” 

“I sent him a photo of one of those, like, whaddya call ‘em, the bow with strings -” 

“A harp?” 

“A harp, and he was like “ah, yes, it’s been a while since I played a harp. Beautiful sound, though.” Lup, this man can play a didgeridoo.” 

“Oh, man, I checked his Facebook again. That video of him playing a kazoo? It was the Final Countdown,” she chuckles. “Are you sure you’re ready to date a nerd? I thought you were into, like, jocks. I’m sure you wanted to fuck Magnus at one point.” 

Taako fake-retches. “No way. That himbo?” 

Lup giggles. “I’m telling him you said that.” 

“I like my men to be smart,” Taako says. “I just also appreciate them being attractive.” 

He taps out another message, and then puts his phone face-down on his belly, shooting her a Look. Lup grimaces. “Oh, no, what is it,” she deadpans. 

“What’s happening with you and Bluejeans?” He says, in what Taako probably thinks is a subtle probing. 

“I don’t know what you mean,” she says, focusing her gaze back on her book, but the words seem to blur on the page. 

“C’mon, Lulu, you’ve been pining for him since the day you met.” 

“That - that is patently false!” 

“Nope, nope, I remember it. It was a warm day in June -” 

“September.” 

“Okay, September, but it was warm, and you said, Taako , I’ve just met the world’s most attractive man -” 

“I said he was the world’s nerdiest man. And I tried to buy weed off him because I thought someone called Barry Bluejeans would definitely have weed in their pockets.” 

“Fine, you said he was nerdy, but you had a kind of misty, far-away look in your eye, like even then you were fantasising -” 

“That was the weed. I bought some off Pringles after Barry said he didn’t have any.” 

Taako squints. “Really? On our first fucking day at school?” 

“Fuck yeah, my dude, blaze it.” 

“Jeezy creezy,” he shakes his head. “I feel like I lost track of where this conversation is going. You were telling me about Barry.” 

“I was avoiding telling you about Barry,” Lup corrects him. 

“Yeah, but you were succumbing to my charms. You were gonna tell me any second.” 

She sighs and snaps the book shut. “You really wanna know? It’s not, like, interesting, it’s just mushy.” 

“Nah, I wanna hear, go on.” 

She’s not even sure where to begin, really. How does she explain that, in four years, Barry’s wormed his way into her heart almost as deeply as Taako has? How can she tell him that Barry Bluejeans, of all people, is someone she really sees herself happy with? 

“You know, like, when we’re alone,” she begins, a little hesitantly. “And there’s a silence. And it doesn’t feel like either of us _has_ to fill it.” He nods encouragingly. “Or, like, how I know how you’re feeling, even when you’re pretending otherwise? It’s like that. Or, wait, let me start over. When we’re cooking, and I can just pass you a pan without looking, because I know for certain that you’re on exactly the same page as me? It’s like we’re reading from the same recipe, but the recipe is internal, right?” 

“You have that with Barry?” Taako looks... apprehensive, maybe? Which Lup _gets._ She’s not really sure how either of them being in a real relationship would affect their dynamic, and she’d be plenty nervous if the roles were reversed. But, she reminds herself, Taako seems serious about Kravitz. There’s a lot changing in their lives. 

“I don’t know,” she says, looking away. “I think we’re getting there.” She sighs, heavily, suddenly teary. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t know. He – I’m sure he doesn’t feel the same way.” 

There’s a beat, and he pulls his legs from her lap and sits upright to wrap his arms around her, his head on her shoulder. They sit in silence for a moment, and she sniffs. 

“You know,” he says, “I think he does. You didn’t see the way he was watching you the other day. We were both cooking, and obviously it was dope, but his eyes were fixed on you. Not even on your ass, either, he was very respectful. Eye contact the whole way down.” 

She gives a wet laugh. 

“Lup, I think – I think you should just ask him.” 

“T, it’s - it’s just not that easy.” 

Taako cocks his head and pauses, for a second, before reaching behind him and grabbing his phone from the armrest of the couch. He starts to dial. 

“What’re you doing?” 

“Showing you how easy it is,” he replies, waiting for a beat. Lup hears the dial tone, and then a deep voice – Kravitz. “Hey, Krav,” he says, an easy grin forming on his face. “I just wondered if you’d like to go on a date with yours truly? Tomorrow – no? Friday lunch? Okay, sure. How’s the Davy Lamp sound? Yeah? Okay, great, see you there, big guy.” 

He hangs up and raises his eyebrows at her. Lup scowls. “You know what I mean. It’s - it’s not that easy with Barold.” 

“Does he _not have a phone?_ Lup, it’s that easy for anyone. You've never had issues before. You used to get laid, like, every night.” 

“He’s my best friend!” She protests. “Cha’gal can pull, yeah, but – it's different when fucking this up means fucking up a real friendship.” 

Taako hums. “Lup, maybe you _should_ just get laid.” 

She blinks at him. “Excuse me?” 

“Might reset your brain, eye-dee-kay. Maybe you’ll feel better.” 

“No,” she says. “I don’t think so.” 

Taako shrugs. “It’s always solved all my problems.” 

Lup rolls her eyes at him and picks up her book again, but he doesn’t look away. “Braid?” He offers, and she hums assent, sliding onto the floor. He tangles his fingers in her hair and starts to plait. 

“Lulu, honestly, just ask him. If you don’t wanna do it in person, write him a letter. That sounds like something from a romance novel, he’d probably drink that shit up.” 

“Unless the note is anonymous, I’m not sure it helps,” she replies. “The problem is that he’d still look at me different if he said no.” 

“That’s a big if, Lu. And, like it or not, we don’t have forever to decide.” 

“He wants to go to Neverwinter,” she mumbles. “So I might see him after our gap year.” 

“Yeah, I heard,” Taako says. “And his backup option is Goldcliff. Which, I don’t know if you remember, is about six hundred miles away from Neverwinter.” She groans, but he just keeps braiding. “Plus, there’s a year’s gap in the middle when you wouldn’t see him. What if he rolls up on the first day of school with a new girlfriend? Or bee-eff, Taako don’t judge.” 

She leans her head back into his lap, ruining the braid he’d be working on and not caring. “I don’t know, Ko, okay? I don’t know.” 

“Lup,” he says, his tone veering into serious. “Listen, okay? You’re gorgeous. No shit, you look just like me. Plus, you’re smart, funny, all that kinda shit. Barry Bluejeans is... I mean, he looks like Tom Arnold. I honestly really like the dude, against my better judgement and sense of style, but I cannot believe you’re worrying _he’ll_ say no to _you_. C’mon.” 

She groans, even louder. “Okay, you know what’s bad? I know he looks like Tom Arnold. And, like, I don’t think Tom Arnold is cute, I swear. But Barry _is.”_

Taako hums. “I mean, I don’t see it. But you do you.” 

“Okay, no, I get what you mean. I didn’t think he was cute when we met,” she says. “But, like... he’s so thoughtful. And kind. And -” she catches the look Taako’s shooting at her. “Okay, okay, I know you don’t give a shit about that stuff. You just want someone with a nice ass, I get it.” 

“Hey!” He protests. “Taako ain’t that shallow. I want someone kind and all that other bullshit that you just said. It just so happens that all of that is secondary to the shape of their ass.” 

She rolls her eyes, and continues. “He’s just – he's sweet. And – I don’t know. When I’m around him my brain doesn’t work properly any more. I have all these smart ideas and ways to ask him out and they just don’t come out of my mouth.” 

“Lup, you told me two years ago you thought Barry Bluejeans was hot,” Taako says. “And after I got over my instinctive gut reaction of ‘ew, gross,’ I thought, ‘jeezy creezy, she’s been sitting on this for a long time.’ And that was two years ago!” 

“I know! I know.” 

“If you don’t do it,” Taako says. “I’m gonna do it for you. I’m sick of you moping about.” 

“Don’t you dare,” she threatens. As much as she wants to date Barry, it’s not worth ruining their friendship over. She’d rather pine forever than make him even remotely uncomfortable. 

“Fine, I don’t really care that much,” Taako lies obviously, leaning back on the sofa and folding his arms. “Ring him now and ask him to dinner. Or lunch, if dinner’s too romantic for you.” He catches the nervous look on Lup’s face, and he amends, “not on a date! Just out. And you can ask him in person. I can come with, if you need the moral support -” 

“No, Taako, I’d rather dunk my head in acid than let you make sarcastic comments throughout my asking him out, thanks,” she replies. “But fine. Me and Barold will go for a strictly platonic lunch.” 

He sits back with an eyebrow raised expectantly. 

“I’m not doing it in front of you, Taako.” 

“I asked out Krav in front of you!” 

“I didn’t ask you to do that,” she says, stubbornly, but pulls her phone from her pocket anyway. She dials his number, and tries to ignore how her heart beats harder in her chest with every digit. The phone rings, and she waits. 

“Hey, Barry!” She says. How does she normally sound? Upbeat? Is this upbeat? She hopes she doesn’t just sound nervous. “We don’t have any classes together tomorrow, right? So I wondered if you wanted to go get lunch?” 

“Oh, hey, Lup,” Barry says, sounding nervous, but not really any more nervous than usual. “Uh, lunch, yeah, sounds good. It’ll have to be after my physics lecture, so, like, two o’clock? Do you have anywhere in mind?” 

Uh oh. How did Lup not prepare for this question? And now he’s asked it, she’s got no idea! Oh, gods, her mind is totally blank! She pauses, and Taako must catch the terror-stricken look on her face, because he hisses, “the pizza place in town!” 

“The pizza place in town?” She parrots, and mouths _thank you_ at Taako. 

“Oh, yeah, sounds good,” he replies. “Remind me to bring a lactaid.” They both laugh, even as Taako rolls his eyes. “Okay, great, you’ve given me something to look forward to while I sit through a physics lecture tomorrow, so I’ll see you then.” 

“Yeah, natch,” she says. “See you then.” She hangs up and lets out a breath she’d hardly been aware she’d been holding. “Fuck.” 

“He said yes, Lulu, that’s the _good_ outcome!” 

“Yeah, but now you’re actually gonna want me to ask him out,” she replies. “So I’m gonna be nervous the whole time. I mean, I couldn’t even think of a single place to go for lunch! Taako, the man has hexed me or something, how does he do this to my brain every time I’m around him?” 

“Do you need me to, like, write you cue cards?” He asks. “We’ll fantasy rom-com it up. Do you know where we can get glasses fitted with a camera and microphone so I can tell you what to say? Or, like, do you wanna practice now? I’ll be Barold.” His voice drops a couple of octaves as he does a (surprisingly, pretty decent) impression. “Uh, hey, Lup, nice pizza, right? I’ll have a pint of milk with my stuffed crust four cheese pizza, please!” 

Lup tries to scowl but a grin pulls at the edges of her frown. “Don’t make fun of his lactose intolerance. It’s a real issue, Taako. I’m sure millions of Americans die each year, or something.” 

“I’m making fun of the way he ignores it until it makes him sick!” Taako protests. “The guy eats more dairy than I do, and I can actually digest the stuff.” 

“He just likes his milk,” Lup says. “It’d feel weird to call him a milky boy behind his back, but the words did cross my mind. Anyway, can we stop talking about his lactose intolerance? Please? Literally any topic would be preferable.” 

“Okay, so, how many times a week do you dream about him?” 

She snatches her book from the couch, standing up. “Okay, bye.” 

“Wait, wait!” Taako says, laughing, so Lup drops back down on the couch. “Blink twice for more than three times a week.” 

“Fuck you, Ko,” Lup says, not blinking at all. Her eyes start to burn, but spite keeps her staring. 

“Okay, for real,” he says, looking away. “You know I want you to get with your nerd. If he’ll make you happy, that’s what’s important to me. So, like, whatever I can do -” 

She blinks a few times, rapidly, while he’s not looking, trying to work some feeling back into her eyeballs. “Aw, you really care.” 

“And I want to give a shovel talk,” he says. “I’ve never gotten to meet any of your boyfriends before, normally cos you kick their asses before I get a chance. Just once, I’d like to intimidate one of them.” 

“You are not giving Barry a shovel talk,” she says. 

“You gave Brian a shovel talk when I dated him!” 

“I didn’t! I just told him to respect your boundaries and – okay, it may have been a slight shovel talk, but Brian was a dick. He deserved it. Barold drinks a gallon of respect women juice every morning, he’d never hurt me.” 

“It’s not for your benefit,” Taako says, inspecting his nails. “It just seemed like it’d be fun.” 

“Okay, sure,” Lup says. “Like Barry isn’t your best friend.” 

“That’s fucking slander. You take that back -” 

“Name one closer friend than Barold.” 

“Uh,” Taako hesitates. Lup knows he has a handful of good friends, but admitting he actually likes them is tough. Her brother’s never been much good with intimacy. 

“Siblings don’t count,” she adds, before he can list her. 

“Mmmmmmmagnus,” he says. “Ren.” 

“Neither of whom have ever held your hair back while you vomited in a river.” 

“Only because they weren’t there! And you promised you wouldn’t talk about that.” 

“No, I promised I wouldn’t talk about that _to other people._ I deliberately kept my options open for teasing purposes.” 

He scowls at her, and she scowls right back. “Fine. I won’t scare him off. Happy now?” 

“Very,” she says, turning back to her book. Taako lets her get a couple of pages as he taps away at his phone. 

“I don’t know why I’m worried,” he says. “At least this way no one will see you making out with him in the library or whatever and think you’re me. Cha’boy does not want rumours to get out that he’s dating Barold. Plus, you’re a sappy motherfucker. You’d wanna go on, like, double dates and stuff, and I’d have to look at you two shooting heart eyes at each other.” 

Lup hums curiously, one eyebrow raised. “Double dates? So you think your thing with Kravitz is going to be a regular occurrence, do you?” 

“I - I meant with anyone. Not necessarily – not necessarily Krav -” 

“Maybe _I_ should be giving _him_ a shovel talk,” she says. “Since he’s your new boyfriend, and all.” 

“Okay, shut the fuck up. I don’t need to put up with this -” 

She grins and snaps her book shut. It’s _much_ more fun now the conversation is on Taako’s love life. She can almost pretend that the idea of her maybe-date tomorrow with Barry _isn’t_ filling her stomach with butterflies. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, thanks for reading another chapter!! Here's an insight into my own University Life: they scheduled me for the wrong class and I had to email and be like "hey wtf"! So that's fun! It's all sorted now thankfully but in that moment I was like... why can't I just do a mutual pining romance love story. I've decided, actually, fuck this! I major in love now. Thank you.  
> Anyways! Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this chapter! I love everyone who comments and I would lay down my life for my regulars so jot that down


	4. Chapter 4

Lup waits at the restaurant, checking the time on her phone for the tenth time in a minute. Okay, sure, she’s pretty confident Barold isn’t gonna stand her up, but that doesn’t make her feel better about him being nearly fifteen minutes late.

Or, maybe he is gonna stand her up? Maybe he’d realised that this is totally a date and bailed? Maybe she’s come across as desperate, and he’s decided he can’t deal with it?

He wouldn’t do that to her. Would he?

She’s about to fire him a text when he bursts into the restaurant, panting, clearly having run from his last class. She immediately feels so much better – of course Barry wouldn’t stand her up! She’d known that all along. Yeah.

He drops his bag at her feet and takes a seat opposite her. She gives him a second to catch his breath before she says, “wasn’t sure you were coming, Bear. Thought you’d stood me up for a hot minute.”

“Yeah, sorry, we got held back,” he pants. “I wanted to message you but I’d left my phone in my locker, and I -”

“Hey, it’s okay, you’re here now,” she grins, trying to hide how relieved she feels. “Remember your lactaid?”

“Ah! Thank you,” he says. “I knew I’d forget.” He bends down to root through his bag, trying to find the pill bottle. Lup looks at her phone again. She has one message from Taako – _get that 🍆_ \- which she ignores, pointedly. “Is Taako joining us?”

“Uh, no?”

“Oh!” He says, seemingly surprised. “Okay, cool. Have you, uh, had a look at the menu?”

Lup’s not really sure what to draw from that. He’s surprised she’d want to hang out, one-on-one? She doesn’t invite Taako to most of her social commitments. And sure, maybe this is a little more... intimate... than she and Barry’s usual fare, but...

Oh, no.

She looks around, belatedly realising the restaurant's dimmed lights and candles aren’t conducive to a friendly meetup. And it was Taako who’d suggested the pizzeria as a place to eat. That dick.

She’s a little upset, though, that Barry seems to be put off by the idea of an intimate dinner together. It doesn’t bode well for her plan to ask him out.

“Uh, yeah, I’m in the mood for some spice,” she says, trying to force her mind off the fact that this is _definitely_ a date in all but name. “So, this one? Uh, it’s chicken and ham, with chili oil?” Barry hums, and Lup chuckles. “You don’t have to pretend that sounds nice to you. I already know you can’t stand heat.”

“I just like my margherita,” he protests half-heartedly. “You can’t beat cheese and tomato.”

She just laughs. Everything she has to say about his pizza choice she’s said before. “It’s a part of your brand now. One day you’ll order pepperoni and my head will explode. I won’t know how to deal with you being so adventurous.”

“I’ve had pepperoni before!” He says. “It’s just – I don’t like how greasy it is.”

“Hey, it’s cool, babe,” she says. “Order what you want. Don’t let anyone else tell you how to feel.”

He looks gratified by that, and she looks back down at the menu. When she looks up, he’s still looking at her, and she’s not really sure how to interpret his expression. “I didn’t - uh, I didn’t mean to offend you when I asked if Taako was coming,” he says. “I heard you two talking while we were making plans – uh, it’s not that I don’t wanna hang out alone -”

She winces. She hadn’t realised it’d been so obvious she was upset. Or, maybe Barry Bluejeans is just good at reading her. “Oh, nah, it’s okay. I was just surprised,” she lies. “Not like he comes with us most of the time.”

So, maybe he wasn’t put off by the intimacy of the setting? But, she thinks, he’s still acting a little more nervous than usual – he's licking his lips, not meeting her eyes, fidgeting. She doesn’t know what he’s got to be nervous about, though.

Unless, her mutinous brain supplies, maybe he does realise this is something bordering on a date, and he’s worried for the same reason she is – he likes her, too.

“Yeah, true,” Barry says, and Lup blinks, refocusing on the discussion, trying to shut her internal monologue down before she gets her hopes up. “Anyway, it’s nice to get off campus. I’d been planning to get a sandwich and stay until late to work on my dissertation.”

“It’s nice to see you,” she says, absently, without thinking about how that sounds. As soon as the words leave her mouth, she’s scrambling to justify it. “I mean, on a Thursday. We only see each other a couple of times a week, now, y’know? It used to be, like, every day.”

He nods, seemingly unaware of how red her face is. “Yeah, absolutely. We’re all so busy, now. It sucks.”

“Yeah, totally. I only see Lucy, like, once a week, after magic theory. I don’t see Magnus at all, except when we go out. I’m glad us two have still got a bunch of classes together or I’d only see Taako all week.” She fake-retches, and Barry chuckles.

“Yeah, me too. I mean, I don’t have a lotta friends in physics. You think I’m a nerd, but they’re really bad. Lucas Miller, I mean, jeez.”

Lup squints as she tries to place the name. “Oh, yeah, the short guy? With glasses? Walks around like he owns the place?” Barry nods, and she pulls a face. “Yeah, I don’t blame you. What about Noelle? I thought you got on with her.”

Barry shrugs. “I don’t see her all that much. She’s in a different class to me, now, cos her engineering lecture clashed -”

A waiter appears, and disrupts the conversation while they order – spicy chicken for Lup and margherita for Barry. He breezes off again.

“Yeah, you know, I’m just glad we’re friends,” he says, blushing profusely.

“Ch’yeah, of course,” she grins. “I honestly never imagined you’d be the kind of person I’d -” fall deeply in love with - “be friends with. You were a huge nerd.”

“I wasn’t even that bad!” He protests. “Anyways, imagine what I thought of you. You tried to buy weed off me, and I didn’t even have any.”

“And I said I wasn’t a narc, you could trust me,” she laughs.

“You refused to believe that I didn’t have any weed,” he says. “You were utterly convinced.”

“Your name is Barry Bluejeans! It’s illegal to have a name like that and not do some drugs. Look at Robbie Pringles!”

“You know my name isn’t actually Barry Bluejeans, right? Lup, it’s important to me you know that. For that matter, Robbie’s name isn’t Pringles either.”

“I don’t know what you mean, Barry,” she replies. “Nothing can convince me that your birth certificate doesn’t say Barold Jarold Bluejeans, parents Marlena and Gregor Bluejeans.”

“Jarold?” He says, raising an eyebrow. “Is that what the J stands for? I’ve always wondered.”

“Taako insists it stands for Jaako. Apparently, you’re his long-lost twin,” she says. “I kinda liked the rhyme though.”

“I’m his long-lost twin? Not yours, though?”

“Don’t ask me. He’s the idiot who came up with it,” Lup chuckles, shaking her head.

“I have always thought there was a resemblance, though, y’know,” he says, mock-pensively. “Like how my ears are not even remotely pointed, or how I’m so pale I’m practically translucent.”

She nods, pretending to be deep in thought. “Y’know, you’re right. If you weren’t four inches shorter than both of us, I’d say it’s uncanny.”

They both grin at each other. “Yeah, so it doesn’t seem likely. But, y’know, my middle name that you guys made up is Jaako, so we must be related somewhere, right? Maybe I’ll get a fantasyancestry.com subscription.”

“I’m gonna tell him it’s actually Jup,” she replies. “Maybe you’re my long-lost twin and not his.”

“I kind of assumed it was Jay. You two never elaborated on what it was, so I thought it was an initial and a name.”

She shrugs. “That’s part of the fun of inventing a name for someone. You can make it whatever you want. Change it every day.”

“Yeah, true. I mean, at least it’s interesting. People’s eyes used to glaze over even as I was introducing myself. ‘Hi, Sildar Hallwinter,’ I’d say, and they’d already be snoring.”

“You’ve not got that issue with Barry J Bluejeans,” she grins, “especially when you tell them you’re not sure what the J stands for. A real man of mystery. The memory of your middle name died long before you were born.”

“Yeah, and I can tell them I’ve got a long-lost twin, but they’re an elf,” he laughs. “And I’m not sure which elf.”

She smiles, and opens her mouth to reply with another hilariously witty comment, natch, when the waiter appears again with their pizzas.

Lup digs in straight away, while Barry looks apprehensive about the amount of cheese on his pizza. “I’m gonna regret this,” he says, ruefully, and takes a bite.

“Taako said you’d probably order a glass of milk,” she says, with her mouth full. “I told him to fuck off but then I thought, actually, I have seen you drink milk straight from a six-pint jug before.”

“I’m just a milky boy,” he says, miserably.

“That’s what I told him!” She cackles.

“It’s like the forbidden fruit,” he says. “It tastes even better because I know I shouldn’t.”

He takes another bite, and it’s so cheesy it creates huge strings between his lips and the slice. She giggles at the image of his face, looking so reluctantly happy.

She loves this man.

Okay, damn, Lup, please cool it, she begs herself. He’s just eating some fucking pizza, could you tone it down a little?

And then she realises she’s staring and her cheeks start to burn so she looks away, staring down at her plate and begging her hell brain to cooperate.

“You okay?” He asks through a mouthful of pizza, and she nods.

“Yeah, fine,” she says, but she can tell she’s still blushing so she doesn’t meet his eyes, instead stuffing her face with another slice. Maybe he’ll just think she’s blushing because the pizza’s a little too hot for her.

“Man, this is better than a sandwich,” he says. “I can’t believe I was gonna stay on campus all day.” He’s smiling, but his face falls. “I can hear my dissertation calling, though. I fuckin’ hate that thing.”

“Yeah, me too,” she says. “I just don’t think about it. It’s gathering dust under my bed most of the time.”

“And, like, we’ve gotta worry about exams, too? That seems like bullshit. How am I meant to write a paper and study for an exam?”

“Yeah! Like, I love Lucretia, but gods, it’s infuriating that she’s done already. That’s not fair.”

“And she won’t even write mine for me, that’s the worst part,” he agrees. “I don’t care that she ‘knows nothing about physics.’” He makes air-quotes. “Neither do I, and I’m writing a damn paper on it!”

“Yes! Exactly! It's unfair,” Lup says. “Speaking of exams, have you even started studying for them yet?”

“Oh, uh, no,” he says. “I mean, I’ve got some books and my notes, but I wanted to finish off the dissertation first.”

Lup nods. “I don’t even have the notes, honestly. They’re all buried in my room somewhere.”

“You can use mine,” he offers. “We’ll be study buddies.”

“That works for magic theory, but I’m not sure how useful your physics notes are gonna be for my evocation exam.”

He hums through a mouthful of pizza. “True.”

She watches him take another bite. How had she ever believed she’d be able to ask him out? As an abstract concept the idea sounds great, but now, face-to-face with the guy, she can’t even begin to imagine what she’d say.

She pulls her phone from her pocket and types, _taako how the fuck do i ask him out?_

She puts the phone face up on the table so she’ll see when she gets a reply and tucks into her pizza again. Neither of them says anything for a minute, but it’s not an uncomfortable silence. They’re both happy to just chill in each other's presence. It’s nice, even with the weight of her crush on her shoulders.

Then her phone buzzes and he jumps a mile into the air, almost dropping his pizza down himself. She chuckles. “Whoops. Sorry, Bear. I’ll put it on mute.”

_Repeat after me: hey, barold, im really hot, you’d be lucky to date me, wanna go out?_

She scowls at the phone and taps out a quick _fuck you_. “Who was that?” Barry asks.

“Just Ko, being an idiot,” she replies.

“Oh, how is Taako? He ask Kravitz out yet?”

“Yeah,” she says. “They’re going out tomorrow.”

This line of questioning isn’t making her feel better about her own predicament. Being reminded of how easily Taako had managed it had somehow not helped Lup.

She takes another bite of pizza as her phone glows again, without the obnoxious buzzing, this time. _Just tell him you like him,_ Taako’s new advice reads. _Or that you’ll pay for a date. That’d convince me._

While that’s probably good advice (regarding honesty, not the paying for the date part), Lup doesn’t really know how to capitalise on it. It’s hard to even know where to begin.

“Barry, I -”

He looks up at her, expectantly, giving her a small smile. She melts under his gaze. Fuck. “You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m good,” she says, and she looks down at her phone again. _Ko this isn’t working i give up, she taps out._

There’s only a second before her phone buzzes again. _Lup just fucking ask him i stg,_ the message says. She scowls. Clearly Taako isn’t going to be much help to her.

“Barry, you know, we should – we should go out more often, you know?” She tries. He smiles at her.

“Yeah, absolutely!” he says. “Like you said, y’know, it’s good to see you on a day I wouldn’t normally.”

“Yeah,” she says, miserably. He’s clearly misunderstanding her.

Or, at least, she hopes it’s a misunderstanding. The only other option is that he’s trying to let her down gently without letting on that he’s aware of her enormous crush. Which she’d be grateful for, really, if only she knew for sure one way or the other.

“But next time, maybe we should just get coffee,” he continues, chuckling. “Neither my wallet nor my lactose-intolerant stomach can survive much more of this.”

Maybe he really doesn’t like her back. Lup had been almost certain that he felt the same way, but – but she feels like she’s laying it on pretty thick. And maybe the reason he’s not cottoning on is because he doesn’t feel the same way, because he doesn’t think about her as even a potential romantic interest.

She doesn’t verbalise any of that. Instead, she finishes off her last slice of pizza.

“Actually, do you wanna come back to help me study?” He suggests. “I can give you my magic theory notes. We can do some exam prep, since neither of us have even started.”

She nods, trying to push any thoughts of romance from her mind. It’s hardly fair, if he doesn’t feel the same way. And he so clearly doesn’t. “Yeah, sure,” she says. “I’ll be back in a sec, yeah?”

She stands up and heads towards the toilets, bolting herself in a stall and leaning back against the door. Gods. She’d actually convinced herself that – at least he still hasn’t realised. So, she has to deal with the mortifying ordeal of being rejected without the awfulness of him knowing he’s rejected her. Kind of a win?

She texts Taako. _He doesn’t want to date me, Ko._

 _What???_ Taako’s reply comes. _I’m gonna kill him._

_No, no, it’s not his fault. It’s just obvious._

_Lup I fuckin stg just ask the man,_ Taako replies. _You do this, like, every other week. “Taako,” you say, “Taako he’s not into me, he doesn’t feel the same way!” And then two days later he blushes when you brush against him and you think he’s into you again._

She scowls. That may be true, but she still doesn’t like it. _Taako I was really obvious about it and he didn’t realise._

_Lup the man has a perception score of negative ten. I’m begging you to ask him out._

She doesn’t do that. Instead, she mutes her phone, washes her hands, and heads back into the restaurant. “You ready for the bill, babe?” She asks.

“Oh, I paid already,” he says. “Your half is ten gp.”

“Oh, okay!” She says, fishing around in her purse as Barry pulls on his denim jacket. She finally finds some coins – all change, so she has to count out a mix of silver and bronze coins into her palm.

They head out of the restaurant and back towards campus. Lup checks her phone – half a dozen texts from Taako, all of them probably insisting she ask Barry out, so she ignores them. “You sure you’re okay?” Barry says, and she realises she hasn’t said anything in a little while.

“Oh, yeah, sorry Bear. Just something on my mind.” He nods, not prying. He knows that she’ll tell him if she feels like it. “Just... tired, I guess.” It’s a lie, but she can’t tell him she’s lonely; that when she’s around him all she can think about is how she wants more.

He nods, understandingly. “Yeah, I hear that. It’s only for a little longer, though, right? We’ve only got a few more weeks of school.”

That only compounds her issues. She’s only got a few more weeks to work up the nerve before the opportunity is snatched out from under her.

“We should meet up,” she says. “In our gap year. I can get the train – I don’t know where me ‘n’ Ko will be living, but -”

“Yeah, absolutely,” he says, without hesitation. “It, uh, hadn’t even crossed my mind I wouldn’t see you.” Her heart swells. “Both of you.” She deflates slightly. “Y’know, you guys are the best friends I’ve ever had.”

She smiles softly at that. “Aw.”

“And, y’know, you guys are welcome to stay with me for a bit,” he continues. “If you’re struggling to find somewhere after this. My mum, she’d welcome the company. Probably be horrified to learn I’ve been led astray by two troublemakers, though,” he chuckles. “Don’t let Taako show her that video of me passing out on the dancefloor.”

As innocent as the invitation surely is, her heart beats slightly faster at the idea of meeting Barry’s mother. It somehow feels like the next step in their relationship. Even if Taako’s been invited too. “Oh, maybe,” she says. “I’ve always wanted to see where it all began for Barold J Bluejeans. And we can be charming when we want to be. She’ll love us.”

He chuckles. “Yeah, somehow I don’t doubt that. It’s probably genetic; us simple Bluejeanses could never resist a Taaco’s charms.”

She smiles along, trying not to read into that too much. He probably means it platonically, she says to herself. He sure doesn’t - surely he can’t mean -

No. He’s not interested. Lup just wishes her traitorous brain would believe her when she says that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> owo what's this? a thursday?  
> More Ethan School Updates: Today I skipped a class because I did not want to go. Rip. I got my friend to send me notes though - apparently the essay I have to write at the end of the year is only 8000 words instead of 10000 now? Not sure why, but I'm not complaining. I wish I could write that essay as easily as fanfic tbh I'm just gonna submit this instead of writing about the fall of constantinople or whatever bullshit  
> Anyways, thanks for reading! I love you all bye see you next week
> 
> (Actually, I'll see you Monday with a new fic ;) if you follow my tumblr you've already read an excerpt!)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Intermission time! Grab some popcorn, because today we're taking a break from Blupjeans for some Taakitz!

Taako throws himself into his usual armchair at the Davy Lamp, giving Ren a wave. She grins and nods in greeting, and Taako immediately pulls his phone from his pocket. 

Fuck, he’s _early._ He’s never early. Taako should be fashionably late, but he’s - gods help him, he’s _excited._ He’s really excited for this date. 

Taako shouldn’t be excited. Taako should be aloof. Other people should be excited to date Taako, not vice versa. But Kravitz is... he’s funny, sincere, cute. 

Now he’s psyching himself out. Butterflies start to form in his stomach, so he uses Fantasy Snapchat’s selfie camera to inspect his makeup. Flawless. He looks down at his outfit – a pink crop top under a black leather jacket, with a dark blue skirt. He looks great. 

He doesn’t feel any less nervous, though. He looks up. Should he just bail? This is uncharted territory – Taako’s never been nervous for a date before. He can always send Kravitz an apology text later. 

But then the object of his nerves walks in through the door. He’s wearing a suit without a tie, his black shirt unbuttoned just enough for Taako to catch a glimpse of his muscular chest. His eyes meet Taako’s, and Kravitz grins an infectious grin that has Taako smiling too. 

“Hi,” he says. 

“Hi,” Taako echoes, lamely. 

“Have you had a drink already, or can I get you one?” Kravitz asks. 

Taako raises an eyebrow and grins a lopsided grin. “Handsome and willing to pay for drinks? Gotta say, you’re making some good first impressions.” 

Kravitz laughs, softly. “Second impressions, surely. I think almost vomiting on your shoes at a club was my first impression.” 

Taako laughs too. “Yeah, but you’re doing a good job of overwriting them. Tell Ren I’ll have my usual, she knows what I mean.” 

Kravitz goes over to the bar to order, and Ren shoots Taako a look, as if to say _this is the guy?_ Taako fires back with a cocky grin – _hell yeah it is._ She’s gay as hell, but it doesn’t mean she doesn’t know he’s got a catch. 

He's not waiting long, and Kravitz comes back with two Styrofoam cups. “What’cha get?” 

“Uh, I should be asking you,” Kravitz replies, with a bashful grin. “I asked for two of your usual.” 

“Oh, fuck yeah,” Taako replies. “It’s cream, a shot of espresso, and one of every type of syrup they have.” 

Kravitz looks down at his drink and back up at Taako. He doesn’t say anything, but his Adam's apple bobs as he gulps nervously. A grin creeps across Taako’s face as Kravitz lifts the cup to his nose and takes a sniff, immediately wrinkling his nose at the sickly sweetness of the scent. “Oh, gods,” he says. He looks back at Taako, but he just slowly raises an eyebrow. 

Kravitz takes a sip, and immediately recoils. “Oh, it’s - uh, nice,” he splutters. 

Taako bursts out laughing. “My guy, you can say you hate it.” 

Kravitz pulls a face. “Yeah, it’s not good. It’s so sweet, how can you drink this?” 

“You’re clearly a man of less refined tastes,” Taako says, snootily. 

“Clearly,” Kravitz says, sliding his cup to Taako’s side of the table. “I’ll stick to the menu, next time.” 

Taako slurps his drink and looks across at him. “So,” he says, “mortuary sciences.” 

Kravitz groans, like this is a conversation he’s been dreading. “Yes, I know.” 

“Very goth,” Taako teases. “You pick the aesthetic before or after you picked the major?” 

“Uh, is it too dramatic to say I was kind of born into both?” Kravitz says, and Taako chokes on his drink laughing. Kravitz has to smack him on the back while he explains, meekly, “I was born in the Raven Queen’s temple, hence the skull jewellery. And, y’know, death is kinda the family business, so...” 

Taako’s giggles subside. “Okay, that’s fair, honestly. Makes my story sound less cool by comparison, though.” 

“Oh, yeah? Transmutation? How’d that come about?” Kravitz asks, and he seems genuinely interested so Taako decides to spill some of the beans on his Tragic Backstory™. 

“Ah, it was useful when we were kids, y’know? I’d transmute some cheap ingredient into something with a bit more calorific substance. And, y’know, Lup is all about evocation, and one of us had to pick a school with some practical uses. It’s not quite ‘I was born in a goth temple,’ but it’s up there in terms of backstories.” 

Kravitz looks concerned at Taako’s Traumatic Childhood, but he laughs softly at Taako’s roasting of his sister. “Ah,” he says. “My bardic magic was just... always there. I’d sing songs when kids were bullying me at school and their pants would catch alight.” 

Taako giggles at that mental image. “What kind of song?” 

“Like, nursery rhymes,” he says, embarrassed. “At first it got me picked on even more, but eventually they figured out that the easiest thing was to leave the little magic goth kid alone.” 

“So, what, they’d come up to give you a swirlie and you’d sing Frère Jacques?” 

Kravitz merely shrugs. “Hey, it worked.” 

“Honestly, that’s fair,” Taako says. “I had Lup around to Thunderwave any shitheads, so the issue never arose. And most people in on the road are willing to play nice when you’re makin’ their food.” 

“On the road?” Kravitz inquires, before he winces at his own question, attempting to downplay it before Taako can even react. “Sorry. I – I don’t mean to push.” 

Taako tries not to wince. Where had that come from? He and Lup aren’t really big on telling their backstory; he’s already let slip more details in this conversation than even Magnus or Ren might know. 

Jeez, maybe he gets what Lup’s talking about when she says Barold has hexed her brain. 

“Yeah, nah, we’re orphans. Travelled a lot. No big,” he shrugs. “I had Lup, so it didn’t matter, you know?” 

Kravitz nods, thoughtfully. It doesn’t look like he’s pitying Taako, though, and he’s grateful for that. “I can’t say I can relate. I was an only child. I was an orphan, too, but when you’re raised in a temple everyone’s your family.” 

Taako’s also grateful for the topic change. “Oh, man, there’s nothing quite like having a twin. Even when I hate her guts, I love her. Don’t tell her I said that, though, Kravitz, I can and will hunt you down.” 

He chuckles. “She seems -” 

“Less attractive? Less glamorous? Less fun?” Taako flips his hair, preening. 

“I was going to say utterly terrifying,” Kravitz says. “In our very first conversation she brutally mocked me.” 

“From what I hear, you deserved it,” Taako observes, a sly grin on his face. “Did you really lock yourself out of the study room?” 

“I - lots of people have that happen!” Kravitz protests. “I’m sure. I don’t know anyone who it’s happened to, but it’s very easy to do -” 

“Yeah,” Taako says. “And you were sat on the floor with your head in your hands -” 

“I - I - okay, that did happen,” Kravitz concedes. “I can’t spin that.” 

“And Lup cast a second level spell to let you in. A spell that, by the way, bards can learn.” 

“Yes - I – I know, Taako,” he says. “The worst part is I actually know Knock. I just didn’t think to use it.” 

Taako puts his head in his hands. “Oh my gods, you’re lucky you’re hot.” He looks up at Kravitz again as a realisation strikes him. “You’re a himbo.” 

Kravitz’s eyes widen slightly. “Pardon?” 

“A himbo,” Taako grins. “Like, bimbo? Like, you’re dumb but attractive?” 

“Oh,” Kravitz says, with a frown. “I should’ve known I didn’t want the explanation.” 

Taako laughs uproariously, garnering a few dirty looks from the people sat nearby. 

“I - I’m top of my class,” Kravitz says, mildly. “And I can play an orchestra’s worth of instruments.” 

“Yeah, but being a himbo is, like, a state of mind,” Taako tries to explain. “Like, it doesn’t mean unintelligent. Just – I can’t really explain without the context. Do you – do you not know any memes?” 

“I know the cats,” he replies, hesitantly. 

Taako squints at him for a second. “The... cats?” He thinks for a moment, and then realisation dawns. “Not the cheeseburger ones?” 

Kravitz snaps his fingers, excitedly. “Yes! They want the cheeseburgers!” 

Taako can’t help it. Kravitz is so excited to remember a decade-old meme as if it’s new information, and it’s _hilarious._ He laughs until there’s tears in his eyes. Kravitz looks bemused, but he slowly starts to chuckle too. 

“I’m glad I’m so amusing,” Kravitz says. “Even if I suspect the joke was at my expense.” 

“No, no,” Taako says. “It’s just – memes are, like, nothing at all like that any more. They’re like enormous worldwide in-jokes, where you have to understand two dozen other jokes to get the one you’re looking at. The cheeseburger cats are, like, very 2008.” 

“I was impressed with myself for even remembering that much,” Kravitz says. “I was never very into, like, internet culture. I pretty much just maintained my Fantasy Facebook and that was it.” 

“Oh, shit, your Facebook!” Taako says. “Gods, I forgot, there’s this great video on there of you, with a kazoo -” 

“Oh, no,” Kravitz moans, resting his head in his hands. “I forgot about that.” 

“I didn’t know you _could_ play the Final Countdown on kazoo,” Taako teases. 

“I don’t even want to think about how many hours of practice that took,” he replies. “It - I actually submitted them that video when I applied here.” 

Taako’s eyes go wide. “For real?” 

“Yeah, I mean – I thought it’d show, like, creativity, you know? And I guess it worked, because I got in, but -” 

“But it’s embarrassing to think they probably have that on file somewhere? Marked ‘Mortuary Science Kazoo Kid’?” 

“Oh, gods, I hadn’t even considered that they might have saved it,” Kravitz says. “They probably did, though, right? It’s in some server somewhere along with everyone’s applications...” 

He looks so mortified that Taako takes sympathy. “I’m sure they don’t, honestly. If they saved every “I played pop music on the kazoo” video they received they’d probably need whole buildings full of computer banks.” He says it teasingly, but Kravitz seems to take some comfort in it. 

Kravitz nods, relieved. “Gods, you’re right. Phew. I should delete it from my Facebook, as well, but I think I’ve forgotten the password.” 

“I’m gonna go home and download it,” Taako says. “I have to save it for posterity, it’s so funny.” 

Kravitz scowls, good-naturedly. “What about you? This has been all about my fuckups, I’m sure you’ve done something you regret.” 

“Nope, cha’boy is a flawless god,” Taako shoots back. “Impeccable style, smart as hell, gorgeous to boot...” 

“And so modest, too,” Kravitz deadpans. 

He nods. “Yeah, that’s for sure one of cha’boy’s main skills.” 

Taako’s not really sure what happened. He’d been nervous, and then Kravitz had arrived, and they’d so easily fallen into a repartee. It almost feels like bantering with Lup, he’s easy to talk to. He barely notices as the hours tick by, and their two o’clock date drinks date somehow drags on until past six. The Davy Lamp empties out as the hours drag on until they’re the only patrons and it’s past closing time. 

“Taako, I’ve gotta close up,” Ren calls from the counter. Taako flips her off, but she just rolls her eyes and continues to clean the counter. 

“Oh, gods,” Kravitz says, looking at his watch. It’s a pocket watch on a gold chain, not a wristwatch, and normally Taako would poke fun at that, but somehow from Kravitz it doesn’t feel pretentious. “I’ve - I’ve got to get home; I have to practice – I’ve got a recital next week.” 

“Oh, it’s chill,” Taako says. “Where’dya live? Cha’boy can walk you home.” 

“Uh, on the east side of town,” Kravitz replies. “You don’t have to, if it’s out of your way -” 

“Nah,” Taako says. “It’s only a small detour.” 

Taako pulls his jacket back on, and Kravitz pulls back on his suit jacket. “So, what are you performing?” Taako asks, as they head out across campus. 

“Oh, I’m a part of the university’s orchestra,” he says. “A violinist. We’re performing at the town’s summer concert.” 

Taako cocks his head. “I didn’t even know we had an orchestra.” 

“Oh, yes! It’s quite small, but I really think we’re very good.” Kravitz says, passion animating his features. “I hope – one day, maybe, when we graduate, I’d like to be a part of Neverwinter’s orchestra.” He chuckles. “Maybe a mortuary science degree won’t get me there, but I’m hoping that the orchestra’s conductor can get me into Neverwinter University’s music program for my postgrad. Apparently, she’s got some connections there.” 

“Oh, dope,” Taako says. He almost starts talking about his own plans to go to Neverwinter, but he’s already spilled enough of his life story for a first date, so he settles for asking, “are, uh, are all the tickets for your recital sold out?” 

Kravitz looks surprised, but an expression of delight quickly comes over his face. “Oh, not at all! I’d love for you to come. It’s next Thursday. It’s free, too, so bring as many people as you like. We’d love to see more people come along.” 

“Huh,” Taako says. “Maybe I will. My sister plays violin, too. And Barold plays piano, actually. So they’ll both be interested.” 

Kravitz looks excited. “Oh! That’s amazing. Ask if either of them are interested! We’re always looking for new players!” 

“You can ask ‘em yourself, my man, I’ll defo bring them to the concert.” 

“Oh,” Kravitz visibly deflates. 

Taako furrows his brow, practically doing a double-take. “What? You were so excited a minute ago!” 

“Yeah, I dunno,” Kravitz says. “Your sister is, uh, scary.” 

Taako laughs. “She’s not, she’s fine.” 

“Taako, the only conversation I’ve ever had with her she made fun of me for, like, five minutes straight. And her boyfriend laughed from a distance.” 

“Her boyf- no, Barry’s not her boyfriend,” Taako says, shaking his head. “Yet. There’s a whole _Thing_. But, hey, I promise she’s cool. When she’s not making fun of the guy who made out with her brother before almost vomiting on him, that is.” 

Kravitz shrugs. “Okay, fair enough. I did deserve some mocking, when you phrase it like that. I – I suppose I’ll ask her at the concert. Assuming you’ll be there, it won’t be so bad.” 

“A’course I’ll be there, my man, you think I’m gonna miss you playing kazoo on stage?” 

“Taako, where do you think the kazoo fits in an orchestra?” 

“I dunno, next to the guitars? I’ve never seen an orchestra. I’m assuming they’re a lot like a rock band.” 

Kravitz laughs a started laugh. “I understand that you’re joking, but there are no guitars in an orchestra either. I just had to say that.” 

Taako narrows his eyes. “Yeah there are. There’s those little guitars people hold on their necks and play with a stick.” 

Kravitz frowns for a second as he pieces that together, then he laughs. “Wait, hold on, I know you know what a violin is because you told me Lup plays.” 

“Damn you and your good memory,” Taako grins. “Ruining all my best jokes.” 

“That was your best joke?” 

Taako squawks and bats at Kravitz’s arm. He laughs, and steps out of reach. Taako scowls. “You don’t appreciate me.” 

“Aw, no, that’s not true,” Kravitz says. He steps closer again and snakes an arm around Taako’s waist. 

Taako’s mind goes blank for a second, but as soon as he can think again he scoffs. “You can’t win me over with cuddles, Kravitz.” 

Kravitz definitely _can_ win him over with cuddles, but Taako’s not ready to be emotionally vulnerable enough to admit how touch-starved he is yet. 

“I can try,” Kravitz says, and Taako laughs. 

“Yeah, guess you can. Sure doesn’t hurt.” He snuggles into Kravitz’s side, and they walk in silence for a few minutes. 

“So, this is me,” Kravitz says, indicating a house. “Where do you live?” 

“Oh, not far,” Taako says, despite the fact that _technically_ he lives on the other side of town, back past the university. He’d wanted a few extra minutes with his date, sue him. “Have a good rehearsal, m’dude.” 

“Thanks,” Kravitz says. “Uh, unless you want to come in for a drink?” 

Taako smiles. “Yeah, sure, why not? What’s on offer?” 

“Uh, I don’t have any alcohol,” he says, unlocking the door. “I can do you a coffee?” 

“Sounds great,” Taako says. A part of him – quite a large part – wonders if _coffee_ is a euphemism. He finds himself kind of hoping it is, and kind of hoping it isn’t. Part of him just wants to talk to Kravitz, get to know him, make conversation. “You can serenade me.” 

“Oh!” Kravitz looks surprised but delighted. “Certainly, if – if you’d enjoy that.” 

“Uh, of course I would, m’dude. In case you hadn’t noticed, Taako thrives on being the centre of attention.” 

Kravitz chuckles, and ushers Taako in. His house is nice; neat, if a bit sparsely decorated. Maybe too much of a reliance on the goth theming for Taako – there’s a _human skull_ on the mantel – but he can work on that. “I hope you approve,” Kravitz says. 

Taako grabs the skull (fake, he thinks. Hopes.) and adopts an appropriately dramatic pose. “What’s that nerd shit? From, like, Hamlet?” 

“Alas, poor Yorick,” Kravitz quotes. “You got the play right, though.” 

“A’course, m’dude, cha’boy got an A in English literature.” 

“Which is a miracle, considering the amount of slang in that one sentence.” 

“Hey!” Taako protests. “I am perfectly capable of conversing in conventional parlance. These affectations are merely a part of the brand,” he says, in a snooty voice. Kravitz smiles, and opens his mouth to speak, but the whistling of his old-fashioned kettle interrupts him. Instead, he pours two mugs of coffee and hands one to Taako. 

“Enjoy,” he smiles, and so maybe coffee wasn’t a euphemism. 

“So, it’s violin you’re practicing, tonight?” 

Kravitz hums in agreement. “Let me go grab it,” he says, standing from the table and heading through a door. Taako cranes his neck and catches a glimpse of a bedroom full of black furniture – a leather couch, a black bedspread, a dark wood desk, as well as a birdcage with an enormous, black bird inside (oh, right, Kravitz has a raven) – before Kravitz returns, holding a black violin case. 

“Lovin’ the consistency of the décor, my man,” he grins. “Maybe I can get, uh, a closer look? Wink.” He says _wink_ out loud as well as giving an exaggerated wink. 

Kravitz flushes, but manages to stammer out, “wha - uh, j- just wait. I said I’d serenade you, first.” 

Taako leans back in his chair and adopts what he hopes is a regal look. “Okay, court musician, play for me.” 

Kravitz opens the case and pulls the violin from within, placing it on his shoulder and running the bow experimentally over the strings before he starts to play. 

The tune sounds familiar, but Taako can’t quite place it... 

“Holy fuck, Krav, is that the Final Countdown?” 

Kravitz doesn’t acknowledge Taako beyond a shit-eating grin. 

“Where’s your kazoo? You can one-man-band it up,” he says. “We just need one of those drum things that you play with your foot.” 

“I have one of those,” Kravitz says, as he stops playing after the first chorus. “I probably could play as a one-man-band, if it weren’t so demeaning.” 

“Fuck, I can’t believe I’m attracted to you,” Taako says with a laugh. 

Kravitz smiles, and delicately places the violin down on the table. “But you are, and that’s all that matters.” He looks nervous, but manages to stutter out, “And I believe I owed you a bedroom tour?” 

“Oh, fuck yeah,” Taako says, taking Kravitz’s proffered hand to pull himself up. And, sure, maybe he doesn’t let go after he’s vertical, but that’s allowed. The guy had just invited him into his bedroom, hand-holding is hardly a sin. 

Kravitz holds the door open and Taako walks in, checking out Kravitz’s décor. The bed is a single, which might make some things difficult, but he’s distracted from those thoughts by the bird. It’s not really in a cage – more of a mansion. It takes up a good half of Kravitz’s room, and all the other furniture has been shuffled aside to make room. 

“What’s her name?” Taako asks, in a voice more reverential than he’d meant it to be. 

“Queenie,” Kravitz replies. “A little on the nose, I know -” 

“You’re a follower of the Raven Queen and you’ve got a raven called Queenie?” 

“Listen! I – It's a good name,” Kravitz says, before obviously changing the subject. “Want to hold her? She’s pretty calm, most of the time.” 

“Do I – fuck, yes? Of course I wanna hold the big-ass goth bird, Kravitz!” Taako says, trying and failing to sound chill about it. Kravitz just chuckles, though, and reaches into the cage, giving a soft squawk which Queenie returns. Taako blinks. “Did you cast Speak With Animals?” 

Kravitz shrugs. “Ravens are real shitty pets if you don’t know the spell. They’re like toddlers. They scream and throw things at you.” He carefully lifts the bird, his palms cupped underneath her, and gives another squawk. Queenie nestles into his hands. “Open your hands,” he says, and Taako mimics his gesture. Kravitz softly deposits the bird into his hands, and, aside from blinking at him curiously, the raven barely seems to notice the change. 

Kravitz nods, happily. “She likes you. And she’s a good judge of character.” 

Taako swells under the compliment, cradling the bird close to his chest. “She’s beautiful. Krav, I’m keeping her.” 

Kravitz smiles, and Taako rocks Queenie up and down for a moment. “You know, I actually only became a bard to learn that spell.” 

Taako tears his eyes from the bird to shoot Kravitz a disbelieving look. “You’re serious? You learnt magic so you could talk to your bird?” 

“Well - I already had magic, since I was a kid, but I only worked on it, refined it – and, I had musical ability, so -” 

“That’s the dorkiest shit I’ve ever heard. C’mere, take this bird off me, I wanna kiss you,” Taako grins. 

Kravitz doesn’t even bother taking Queenie, instead just leaning in over her for a kiss, and Taako stops thinking much of anything. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! It is Thursday my dudes! I hope you enjoyed this lil Taako-centric chapter, because I plan to do one of these every fifth chapter! I think it helps break up the agony of the pining with some good good relationship fluff. Anyways! I have a class today and all I want to do is play among us... it's a very fun game okay leave me be. Yesterday I vented in front of everyone because I forgot that crewmates can't do that. Whoops.  
> Anyways! Please leave a comment and a kudos, and maybe check out my other fic? Thank you!!


	6. Chapter 6

Lup fucking hates working at Fantasy Costco.

She hates stacking shelves, she hates working the till, she hates having to grin at creepy assholes who call her pet  names. This job fucking  _ sucks. _

But, she’s a student. And she’s got to make rent somehow.  Taako’s a part-time pastry chef, and only earns slightly more than she does, so she can’t exactly quit and storm out, no matter how many times a day she fantasises about it.

“Hey, darling,” a man says, from the end of the aisle. “Where’s the rice?”

She blinks at him, slowly. “Uh, aisle eighteen? The one that says  _ rice  _ in big letters?”

He turns and walks away without so much as a thank you. “Where’s the rice,” she mutters to herself. “Fucking idiot. Can’t even read a sign.”

She bends down again, back to stacking tins of soup. The shop’s busy, today, but, admittedly, maybe she’s a little more grumpy than usual.

She hasn’t spoken to Barry since their  _ date.  _ He’d gone home, quite happily unaware of her efforts to ask him out, and she’d gone to her own house and screamed into a pillow.

Maybe she should ring him. It'd be nice to hear his voice.  But, she doesn’t have any excuses prepared... It’s too early to ask him to lunch again. Maybe a study date? Or some coffee?

She’s ruminating on that when someone pushes their shopping cart straight into her spine, knocking her off balance. She topples, almost falling face-first into the shelves, only just managing to shift her weight enough to instead land awkwardly on the pile of cans. One cuts into her hand, and she grimaces as she  realises she’s bleeding.

“Whoops,” the guy pushing the cart leers down at her. “My bad.”

And he walks away without another word.

Lup grits her teeth, balling her hands into fists and willing herself  _ not  _ to incinerate the asshole as he retreats down the aisle. It’s hard, but, through sheer force of will, she somehow manages it.

Instead, she turns back to the soup cans, throwing the remaining few onto the shelf, no longer caring if it’s neat. Cursing customers under her breath, she stands and heads towards the back of the store. She pushes open the door of the office, and says, “Garfield, I’m going on break.”

Her boss looks like he’s ready to argue, until he looks up and sees the tempestuous look on her face. Wisely, he nods.  ** “Fifteen minutes, Lup! Your contract is very clear, and very legally binding!” **

She ignores his horrifying tones and grabs her lunch from her locker. She’ll grab a band-aid for her cut, and head outside, get some fresh air, and hopefully cool off enough that she doesn’t have to try to hide a gross old man’s body by this evening.

As she’s plucking a box of band-aids from the shelf, a man’s voice says, from behind her, “hey, hon.”

She rounds on him, furiously. She’s on break, right now, which means she can call out all the gross pet names she likes. But, rather than some middle-aged dude, she finds herself face-to-face with Barry, a cheeky grin on his face.

“You - Barold, I almost incinerated you for that,” she says, the fury evaporating off her.

He laughs. “Sorry, Lup. I know how much you  _ love  _ those pet names, though.”

“Dick,” she tries to frown at him, but a smile tugs at the edges.

“You, uh, not having a good day? You didn’t look happy.”

“Lots of gross dudes. Like, c’mon, I’m just trying to work, here.”

“Oh, man, sorry. I see why you were so mad about, uh...”

She suppresses the urge to tell him it’s not gross, coming from him. “You grabbing some shopping?” She asks, instead, indicating his shopping basket. “Want some company?”

“Oh, for sure!” He smiles, and he looks so happy that she thinks –  _ hm. _ Maybe she’d read too far into the calamity that was their date. Maybe he really  _ was  _ just oblivious. Maybe Taako was right all along -

No, that’s absurd.  Taako’s never right. The Barry thing, though...

“What’re you getting?” She asks.

“Uh, a jar of pasta sauce,” he says, checking a scrap of paper.

“Pasta sauce? Barry, just get tinned tomatoes and garlic. Throw in some basil. It’s so much better, trust me.”

“Lup...”

“ _ Barold,”  _ she insists, and he relents. 

“Fine, fine,” he says. “Where’s that gonna be?”

“I’ll show you,” she says. They grab his ingredients, and Lup makes him pinkie-swear he’ll actually use them, not just buy a pre-made jar of sauce, and they head outside. It’s a nice day, so they head over into the park opposite the fantasy Costco. It’s shaded and quiet, so they find a bench under a tree and open their respective lunches.

Barry offers her a swig from his thermos of coffee, and she gladly accepts.

“So, busy day?” He asks.

She nods, her mouth full. “Yeah, been pretty shitty. It’s always bad on Saturdays, though, so I don’t know what I expected.”

“Yeah, I’m glad I don’t work customer service.”

“Really? You don’t like people invading your personal space every five minutes?”

He chuckles. “Surprisingly, no. I’m good, actually.”

The sun comes out from behind a cloud, and Lup spreads her arms to drink in the rays. “God, I needed this.” She closes her eyes and lies back, basking in it, but she’s suddenly aware of Barry trying to shuffle sideways into the shade. “C’mon, Bear, five minutes of sun isn’t  gonna cook even your pasty skin.”

He pulls a face. “You’d be surprised, Lup, I’ve gotten sunburnt in a snowstorm before now.”

She laughs, and doesn’t say anything as he slides off the bench to sit on the floor where the shade is denser. She watches, while trying not to make it obvious, as he pulls his sandwich from his bag and tucks in.

He looks up at her, and so she quickly looks away, feeling a blush rise to her cheeks.

“Nice day,” he says, and she nods.

“Wish I wasn’t working,” she says. “It’s freezing in there. They always have the air con blasting down. Wish we could go to the beach, or something.”

Barry hums. “Yeah, that’d be nice. Swim for a bit, take a barbecue, watch the sun set?”

Is he intentionally describing the most romantic thing Lup can imagine? She’d love to watch the sun set with him, maybe an arm around his waist, her head nestled on his shoulder, maybe sharing a kiss...

“Yeah, definitely,” she says, trying to banish those thoughts from her mind. “But instead I’ve  gotta stack shelves until eight.”

“Ah, we can just go, right? Tell Garfield you’re ill. It’s only an hour or so to the beach.”

She heaves a sigh. “Gods, you’ve got no idea how tempted I am, babe.”

“ So do it,” Barry says. “Fuck the  bourgeois dictator.”

That startles a laugh out of her. “I  kinda dig anti-capitalist Barry,” she says. “Fuck the man, right?”

“Hell yeah,” Barry grins. “So, you bunk off, and we go to the beach? It's settled.”

“You’re such bad influence,” she smiles. “I need the money.”

“ _ I’m  _ a bad influence? Lup, I was the most  strait-laced student imaginable until I met you.”

“Ah, you love me,” she says. “I made you fun.”

He nods. “True.”

_ True he loves me? Or true I made him fun?  _ Lup wonders. But, even if he’d meant both, she’s sure he means a platonic kind of love. Not the kind of love she feels for him, the kind of love where it feels like she’s burning up inside.

“Okay, for real, rain check on the beach. We will definitely go at some point.”

“We could take  Taako and Mags and Lucy?” Barry offers, and Lup nods. Sure, she’d like it to just be them, but it seems like it’d be maybe too intimate, and she definitely wouldn’t want  Taako knowing about it. She’s sure she’ll be able to grab some alone time with Barry at some point anyway.

“That sounds fucking incredible,” she agrees. “Definitely better than working, that’s for sure.”

“I actually know a really nice beach, near where I used to live,” he says, and blushes. “I had my first kiss there.” 

Her eyes widen. “Barry Bluejeans, your first kiss was in public?” 

“I mean – it's quiet!” He protests. “And we were, like, sixteen. She was, uh, more into it than I was. So it wasn’t great. I kinda just wanted to go home and finish the experiments I had running.” 

Quashing the urge to tell him she could probably show him a _real_ kiss, she shrugs. “I had my first kiss at, like, forty. That wasn’t much good, either.” 

“Oh yeah?” He says, an eyebrow raised. “And where was that? I want all the embarrassing details.” 

“Nothing about my past is embarrassing, I’m amazing,” she says. “I dunno, it was just a guy from one of the caravans. Taako had a boyfriend he was spending all his time with, and I wanted to make him jealous, so I let him see me kissing this guy.”

“Did it work?” Barry asks with a faint smile.

“Oh, yeah, have you met my brother?  He was immediately all jealous and shit, and it was only like a week later that he dumped his boyfriend and we were spending all our time together again. I never saw the dude again. Don’t remember his name, even.”

Barry laughs. “Yeah, sounds like  Taako .”

“I mean, we’re - we don’t do that, now. Y’know. It, uh - we were immature kids.” She tries to justify the story, not wanting her past actions to scare Barry off. She and Taako had been possessive over each other, but they’ve both mellowed out since going to university. She’s actually cool with him dating Kravitz, even if it means they spend less twin time together. After all, it means she gets more Barry time, so...

“Yeah, no, of course. Who wasn’t?” He says. “I have to admit, though, I’m surprised he’s dating Kravitz. He seems serious about it.”

Lup nods. She knows what Barry means – normally, when  Taako “dates,” he’s very upfront about it being temporary. He’s always had difficulty connecting with people that weren’t her; it’d taken almost their entire first year at college for  Taako to even admit Barry was his friend. But Kravitz seems to have bypassed all the  Taako Bullshit ™ and jumped straight into his affections.

“I don’t know,” she says. “I hope it’ll be good for him? Kravitz seems like a massive dork, and like, he’s hot, but also kind of not normally  Taako’s type. He’s too much of a nerd.”

“Yeah,” Barry says. “Exactly. It seems like this is more serious than any of his relationships I’ve ever seen. You remember Brian? When he dated him? He was insufferably head over heels for, like, three days, and then he dumped him and insisted he never wanted to see him again.”

She hums in agreement. “Yeah, normally when he dates – when either of us date, really, it’s not a  long-term thing. You know our Tragic Backstory, babe, it’s probably just because of our transient upbringing.”

He laughs. “Yeah, I guess.” He’s silent for a second, and then says, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you date anyone.”

She can feel her cheeks heating up. “Well, uh, yeah. I don’t know.”

“Oh, I mean, I didn’t - there’s nothing wrong with that. I just assumed that was how you rolled.”

“I’m not – I'm not  aromantic , or anything. Just not met the right person,” she lies. She’s met the right person, but he’s not interested in her, and  it’s _ agony.  _ She’s not dated since their first year because she’s been so head over heels for Barry that whole time no one else has even appeared on her radar. “I mean, I dunno. I guess both of us, me and Taako, have decided we wanna settle down.” She chuckles. “Which is a wild thing for a college student to say, but you get it.”

“Huh,” he says. “Fair enough.”

“Well, what about you?” She pries. “I’ve never seen you date, either.”

He chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “Yeah, I  dunno . Same as you, I guess. Waiting for the right person.”

Well.

That’s a small victory. At least he’s not  ace , or anything, which would throw a wrench in her plans. She’d have respected it, of course, but she certainly wouldn’t have been  _ happy  _ about it. But, if he’s not aromantic, is he just really oblivious? Or is he not interested in her?

“Aw, you’ll find someone eventually,” she says. “Who wouldn’t want to date Barold Jarold Bluejeans? You’re a catch.”

She knows her words sound like a joke, so she tries to inject some sincerity into her voice. Whether or not Barry takes the hint that she’s interested, he’s not kind enough to himself.

He huffs a laugh, not meeting her eyes. “Sure, Lup. I mean, you too.”

“Hey, Barold? You’re, like, the kindest person I’ve ever met.  So you can get that disbelieving tone  outta here, thank you very much,” she says. “And, you’re not bad- lookin ' either. And don’t you dare doubt me, ‘cos Lup  Taaco has impeccable taste. You’re handsome and funny and my best friend, so anyone who can’t see that is gonna have to deal with this gal.”

He blushes a deep red, and Lup realises maybe she’s overstepped some boundaries. But, once she’d started talking, the words had just spilled out. Should she apologise?

“You, uh, you know that I think you’re great,” he says, stirring her from her internal monologuing and answering that question for her. “You’re smart, you’re funny, you know... You already know you’re beautiful, too, you don’t need me to tell you that.”

“ Sure doesn’t hurt, though,” she grins.

He chuckles too, even if he looks flustered as hell, and Lup’s hit once again by the fact that Barry  Bluejeans is the cutest person she’s ever met. His cheeks are still tinged red, but he’s smiling up at her. He meets her gaze and looks away, running a nervous hand through his messy hair, and she wonders, for the millionth time – how would he react if she leant down and kissed him? Or if she confessed, right here? If she just told him how she feels?

Then he looks at his watch and the moment  is past. “What time do you need to be back in?”

“Oh, fuck, probably, like, five minutes ago,” she says. “Whoops.”

“I’ll walk you over,” he says, so she stands, offering him a hand without really thinking about it. He takes it and pulls himself up.

She’s sure she’s imagining the way his hand lingers in hers.

She has to look away, so she stretches, her arms above her head and her eyes closed. When she opens her eyes again, she catches him staring for a brief second, an unreadable look on his face.

“You okay?” She asks.

“Oh, yeah, all good,” he says, that blush rising to his cheeks again.

They head back towards the Costco in silence. Lup’s brain races as she tries to put words together to admit how she feels.

What can she say? She doesn’t want to make him uncomfortable, or ruin their friendship if things go wrong... There’s so much potential for this to go badly, and she’s not even sure how she’d cope without Barry any more. He’s as much of a part of her life as Taako.

And then, before she knows it, she’s stood back outside the shop, and Barry’s looking at her, expectantly. Her heart leaps to her throat. “Barry, I -”

“Lup -”

They speak simultaneously, but Barry waves for her to proceed. “Uh, I – Thanks for coming out with me. Brought some light to a shitty day,” she says.

“Oh, it’s, uh, fine. It’s fine,” he says, and he looks – maybe disappointed? She tries not to read into that – he's not upset because she chickened out on asking him out. It’s for some other, unrelated reason. “Glad you feel a little better.”

She gives him a smile. “Of course, babe.”

She wants to tell him everything. That being around him is like a drug, that he makes all her problems fade into the background. That he’s the most wonderful person she’s ever met, the light in her life, the thing that keeps her going. 

But she just  _ can’t. _ Even as the words form in her throat, she chokes on them. She knows she’s greedy – like an addict, she’s desperate for more; more time with him, more contact, embraces, kisses. And her worst nightmare is that he’ll realise how greedy she is, and he’ll leave. And being his friend, wishing for more, is better than not seeing him at all.

So Lup chokes out, “I should go.”

He nods. “Yeah.”

They both stand, perfectly still. A few beats of silence pass between them before Lup finally turns and walks back into the store. She barely even registers the pet names that gross customers call her for the rest of the day. All her mental processing power is focused on Barry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Hope you liked another chapter. Unfortunately I have class today ): and last time there were so many people without masks... I sent an email to the principal like "hey wtf" and he was like "it's perfectly safe (:" and it's like. bro are you serious. universities are closing countrywide and you're not gonna do anything about it??? like ok
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!! I think it's a really fun one - the beach mention here IS setup for a chapter I've written for later ;) also, the next chapters are some of my absolute favourites, they're absolutely PEAK pining. Thank you for reading!!


	7. Chapter 7

“Hey, Barry,” Lup says, a smile on her face. 

“Hey, Lup,” Barry says, with a nervous grin. “Really, uh, cutting it fine today.” 

“Ah, we’ll be okay if we run,” she says. Neither of them does, instead adopting a quick walking pace. “It’s not as if we need to be on time anyways. We get all our notes from Lucy, we basically don’t need to go in at all.” 

“That won’t look good on your attendance record, though,” Barry says. “We’ve already got enough late marks; we don’t need absences too.” 

Lup rolls her eyes exaggeratedly. “Okay, okay, sorry _dad.”_

Barry makes a strangled noise. “Excuse me?” 

“Like, because you’re patronising me!” She says. “Not like daddy, Jeez, Barold, get your mind outta the gutter.” 

“Oh, yeah,” he says, his face burning. 

They come within sight of their lecture hall, and realise everyone else has already gone inside, which spurs them into a jog. Thankfully, the lecturer has only just started, and she barely even glances at them as they pick their way to the usual seats at the back. 

They slide into their seats, bringing out their laptops. Barry passes Lup his charger before she even asks for it, which she’s glad for because she can’t even remember the last time she charged her computer. 

“... And, for our latecomers,” the lecturer says, with a pointed glance up at the pair of them. There’s a giggle from the rest of the class. Barry blushes, but Lup gives her a cheeky wave. “We’re preparing oral presentations in partners. That means you two are together, because everyone else already chose their partners already. I’ll email you your assignments, due Friday this week! Remember, this _does_ count towards your overall grade, so make sure you take care -” 

Lup looks at Barry. “Did you know we had presentations for this class? Where am I meant to find the time?” 

“Yeah,” he whispers back. “It’s on the course introduction booklet. Did you... read it?” 

Lup gives him a look. “No, why the fuck would I? I’ve got a nerd to tell me what I need to do.” 

Barry rolls his eyes. “At least we’re together. Better this than, like, Magic Brian or someone.” 

Lup chuckles. “Yeah, I think I’d probably kill him long before Friday. But, seriously, how am I meant to have the time? We’ve got an essay, exams, and now a presentation?” 

“Welcome to being a student, I guess,” Barry shrugs. “We probably bring this on ourselves by going out drinking instead of working. And we’ve been making plans for a beach trip, which isn’t gonna get any work done. I bet Lucy won’t have any problems doing it.” 

“Do you think she’ll help us? Lucretia’s, like, unfairly good at writing this stuff. Who’s she partnered with? I bet she’ll work with us instead of them.” 

Barry stares down at Lucretia, trying to make out who she’s sat next to just from the back of her head. “Ah, fuck, I think it’s Maureen.” 

“Oh, no,” Lup says. “She definitely won’t help us, now, she’ll be too busy making heart eyes at her own partner.” 

“You mean we’re -” Barry fake-retches. “Going to have to do _our_ _own_ _work_?” 

Lup grimaces. “Looks that way, babe.” 

“Looks like another library session for us, then,” Barry says. “Whoopee.” 

Despite all their complaining, Lup’s looking forward to it. Any extra time spent with Barry, even if they’re desperately racking their brains to put together a presentation, is time well spent. 

Unless... 

“Wait, why don’t we go back to mine?” She suggests, pushing her luck. “I can make dinner – wait, no, we’d have to go to yours. Taako’s got Kravitz over tonight.” 

Barry laughs. “Yeah, don’t wanna walk in on that. Sure, sounds good.” 

“Walk in on what?” Lup says, deliberately obtuse. “My brother is a good Christian, they’ll be leaving space for Jesus.” 

Barry nearly chokes laughing, and Lup has to slap him on the back. 

Thunder peals, and Lup’s eyes widen. “Fuck, babe, we gotta hurry, I don’t wanna ruin my hair.” 

Storm clouds have been gathering overhead for the last couple of days, but it’s looking more and more like the heavens are going to open imminently. Barry looks up at the darkening sky and pulls a face. “Okay, shit, let’s go.” 

They start to jog – thankfully, they’re only a few minutes from Barry’s anyway. Rain starts to lash down just as they reach his apartment building, so Lup holds her laptop bag above her head. Barry fumbles the key a few times, and she has to stand in the rain, her jacket getting drenched, as he tries to fit it in the hole. 

Finally, though, he gets the door open, and they both hurry through. Lup dumps her bag by the door, ripping off her sodden jacket as Barry winces at the way his wet shirt sticks to his skin. “Think I’ll have to change,” he says, heading towards his bedroom. 

Lup tries not to look, but she’d be lying if she said she hadn’t stolen a couple of glances. He’s _very_ hot and dressed in a wet shirt, what can she say? 

She flops down on his couch, looking around. She doesn’t come to Barry’s place very often, since it’s further from the university than her and Taako’s apartment, but it’s nice enough. It’s only got one bedroom and a smaller kitchen than she’d be happy with, but the living space is nice enough. 

She’s never seen inside his bedroom, but she’d like to one day. Wink. 

He appears back from his bedroom, and Lup tries not to feel disappointed that he’s in a far less transparent shirt. She does appreciate the way his wet hair is all mussed up, though. Gives him a kind of rugged look. 

“Has she sent us through our assignment?” She asks, as Barry pulls his phone from his pocket to check through his emails. 

“Uh, yeah, we’re doing spell foci,” Barry says, sitting next to her. “Which isn’t a bad one, for sure. We could, uh, touch on casting without a focus? The way foci shape the spell?” 

“Oh, shit, nice,” Lup grins. “That is an easy one. We can do, like, the history of the focus? This is gonna be a walk in the park, babe.” 

“Nice,” he says. “Okay, lemme grab my notes. We could do, like... here, look. History of the wand, into what it does to a spell, into focus-less casting? That should take up our ten minutes, right? Or we could add something about the ways in which different cultures make different wands? I saw something the other day about traditional wands from across Asia, I thought it was fucking incredible -” 

A smile creeps onto her face as she watches Barry nerd out. He’s so passionate about everything. It’s adorable. 

“Or, y’know, maybe we won’t have time,” he says. “But I thought that’d be a good, kinda, extra-credit thing.” 

Lup nods. “Yeah, that sounds incredible! We can definitely make some room for it.” 

Barry jots the outline down in his notebook. “I’m gonna write this section on the history, if that’s okay? I think I’ll put the stuff about other cultures in there, and you can do the bit about wandless casting?” 

Lup gives him a nod. “Yeah, sounds good, babe. Your section’s gonna be longer, right? So I’ll try and keep mine to, like, two minutes?” 

He nods, chewing on his pencil. “Yeah, that’s probably about right,” he says. “With the bit about why we need a wand, that’ll come to about five minutes? So my section can be five minutes too?” 

“Sounds great, Bear,” she nods, even though she’d definitely been distracted by how cute he is when he’s concentrating. She knows roughly what he’d been saying, anyway – it’s why she likes working with him, they’re on the same wavelength. 

Barry heads off in search of the book he’d been reading about traditional wands. Lup starts typing up her notes. They work in a comfortable silence, the only sound being the rain lashing against the windows. Lup eventually gets a pretty good first draft of her half of the presentation ready. Time passes, and she’s barely aware of it. 

Barry’s stomach growls loudly, and, as if on cue, Lup’s does too. She checks her watch. “Oh, shit, babe, it’s, like, eight o’clock.” 

Barry looks up, and they both realise how dark it’s gotten outside. “Where did the time go?” Barry chuckles. “Do you, uh, need to be home? Is Taako expecting you?” 

“No, babe, I’m good,” Lup replies. In actual fact, she’ll stay as long as Barry will have her – Kravitz is probably staying over, knowing how fast Taako moves with his dates, and she doesn’t need the blatant reminder that Taako’s boning down. Worse than that, he’s boning down and _she isn’t._ “Unless you want me out?” 

“Ah, you know I don’t,” he grins. “We could get dinner?” 

“Oh, yeah, what ingredients have you got?” 

“Wait, wait, you’ll just be mad if you go in my fridge. It’s all, like, ready meals and pre-made pasta sauce,” he says. “We could get pizza.” 

“Barry, we only had pizza a few days ago,” Lup shakes her head. “Chinese? Curry?” 

“Oh, man, a Chinese sounds good. I could go for a chow mein. There’s a place on main street?” 

“Fuck yes,” Lup says. “Do they deliver? I really don’t wanna go out in this.” She indicates the storm. 

Barry nods. “Yeah, I think so? I’ll check online. What do you want?” He pulls up the menu on his phone, and so Lup leans in over his shoulder, taking the opportunity to step in real close and place a hand on his arm. She hums as she scans the menu. 

“Pork and black bean sauce?” 

He nods. “Okay, sure.” He hits the “add to order,” and then selects a chicken chow mein for himself and does the same. He steps back, and Lup tries not to make her disappointment at him pulling away show. 

“Ten gold,” he says. “I can pay -” 

But Lup’s already fishing around in her purse. “No way, babe, here. My treat.” 

“Oh, no, Lup, you don’t have to -” 

“I want to, Bear, take it. Please?” She shoots him her best puppy dog eyes and he relents. 

“Okay, thanks,” he says with a soft smile. 

Even that is enough to get her cheeks burning. Gods, she’s got it bad. It’s not her fault, though, he’s so cute and tender and sincere and... 

Okay, Lup, she chides herself. Stop going down that rabbit hole or you’ll be fantasising about him for hours. 

He puts his phone to one side, and says, “we’ve done some good work tonight. I’m probably halfway done? Wanna watch, uh, some fantasy Netflix while we wait?” 

She nods. “Sounds good. We’re still halfway through that thing we were watching before, uh, Blue Faerun, right? With fantasy David Attenborough?” 

He brings up his Netflix account and selects the documentary from the list. Sure enough, they’re midway through an episode, and fantasy Attenborough’s dulcet tones ring out as he describes some jellyfish, or whatever. 

Lup curls up on the couch, her feet curled up under herself, and Barry sits next to her on the other side of the couch. On screen, a shoal of fish swim past, and threatening music plays as a barracuda trails them. Admittedly, Lup’s not paying much attention to the show. The gap between her and Barry is taking up most of her mental faculties’ processing power. 

Did he sit as far away as possible on purpose? Or is he just trying to give her some space? Or was he not thinking at all? Maybe Lup’s the one overthinking this, here. Should she shuffle closer? People cuddle while watching TV, right? Do people platonically cuddle? Hug? Does “hug” imply purely platonic feelings? 

She wiggles a little closer. Barry doesn’t move. 

Okay, so phase one was a success. Now, phase two – she’s gonna lean her head on his shoulder. People do this all the time, she reassures herself. It's perfectly normal. She’s hugged Barry before. This is perfectly ordinary! Everyone does this. She hugs Magnus and Lucretia all the time. She swallows, nervously, and tries to convince herself that hugging Magnus in public is even _remotely_ the same as cuddling Barry, on his sofa in a dark room. 

She curses her goofus brain, and simply shuffles a little bit, lowering her head slowly so he has plenty of opportunity to move, if he wants. He doesn’t. Her head makes contact with his shoulder. Houston, we have touchdown. 

Okay, she tells herself. What now? She hadn’t planned this far in advance. Now she’s cuddling Barry - what does she do? 

She tries, desperately, to banish the words _Netflix and chill_ from her brain. 

She makes a pretence of watching the screen, as if dolphins could hold her attention when she’s got Barry. His chest rises and falls with every breath, and every beat of his heart is all she can focus on. 

And then – and then! His arm moves, and the next thing she knows, he’s got an arm around her shoulders! 

This is definitely outside of platonic hug territory now, right? Surely, at this point, this is a cuddle. She’s practically draped across him, and he’s got an arm around her. Okay, she thinks. Maybe it’s time for her arm to go around him? 

So, she lifts her arm and places it around his stomach. 

Oh, gods, she thinks. This is the single most stressful experience of her life. Wonderful, but stressful. She’s sure she’s sweating buckets. 

Is... is this, maybe, suggestive that he feels the same way? Could this finally be the perfect moment to ask him? To tell him how she feels? 

She looks up from the TV, and at his face. He’s not looking at her, but there’s a faint blush on his cheeks. He’s looking away, almost as if he’s deliberately ignoring her gaze. He squeezes her shoulders and keeps staring at the screen. 

And, finally, Lup’s sure. Barry feels the same way. They’re cuddling, on his sofa, in a not even remotely platonic way. This is real. She opens her mouth, resolute. It’s the time. This is it. 

The doorbell rings. 

They both jump, and Barry lifts his arm from her shoulders as he starts to stand. Lup suppresses a groan at the delivery guy’s shitty timing as the delightful skin contact is so unjustly ripped away. She turns her head as Barry opens the door to see the delivery guy, soaked through from the storm. Distant sounds of conversation reach her ears, and then Barry’s coming back into the room with a plastic bag. It smells _so good,_ but Lup’s hardly able to think about that. 

The moment’s passed, now, as Barry fishes some forks out from his cabinet. He won’t meet her eyes as she watches, trying not to let her misery show on her face, as he brings her food box over. 

“Smells good,” he says, not looking at her. 

“Yeah,” she replies, just to break the uncomfortable silence. 

He sits on the couch. This time, they both maintain the distance as they both take their first bites. Barry reaches over and hits play on the remote. David Attenborough continues describing eels, or whatever fucking bullshit. Lup’s never been less in the mood for a nature documentary. 

They finish their meals in silence. Not the comfortable silence they fall into, sometimes, but a silence that feels dense, oppressive. Lup wants to say something, to tell him how she feels, but – but - 

But the moment has passed. That wonderful certainty that had filled her just a moment ago has ebbed away, leaving her with more doubts than ever. If he felt the same, wouldn’t he have said? Maybe people really _do_ platonically cuddle while they watch Netflix. 

The more she thinks about it the happier she is the doorbell rang when it did. If it hadn’t, she’d have made a fool of herself, not to mention ruining what she has with the best friend she’s ever had. He’d have let her down gently, she’s sure, but would he ever want her to come over again? Would they ever be as comfortable around each other again as they are now? Would he trust her the way he does now? 

No. It’s good things turned out the way they did. 

They finish up their meals as the documentary ends, and Barry takes both boxes to the trash. He comes back and sits down next to her. “It’s, uh, getting late, Lup,” he says. “Do you want to head home?” 

They both turn to the window. The storm hasn’t abated. If anything, it’s getting heavier. 

“Fuck,” she says. “I don’t even have a coat.” 

“You could borrow my umbrella? Or wait here until it dies down a bit?” 

She pulls a face. “Yeah, guess I’ll wait. If that’s okay? I don’t want to, y’know, impose. I’ll give it half an hour and see if it’s died down at all.” 

He nods, without saying anything, and boots up another episode of Blue Faerun. 

The distance between them feels like a gaping, insurmountable chasm this time. Lup so desperately wants to pick up where they left off – to lie on him, wrap her arms around him, kiss him. But how can she? When he doesn’t feel the same way? She’d be taking advantage of him. It wouldn’t be fair. 

But then he shuffles closer to her. She doesn’t turn to face him, but all her senses are tuned in to his actions – her ears perk up and she watches him out of the corner of her eye, her skin tingling under his gaze. David Attenborough’s dulcet tones sound like they’re a million miles away; instead, Barry’s breathing fills her ears. 

He lifts his arm and places it on the backrest of the couch, in what would seem to be a casual gesture if they weren’t both flushed a deep red. 

Lup barely breathes. He’s practically got an arm round her shoulders! Should she do something to reciprocate? What can she do? 

A crack of lightning illuminates the room. Lup was so on edge, her senses on high alert, that it makes her jump. She chuckles, nervously. 

“Lup,” Barry says, his voice husky. “I think you should stay the night.” Her breath catches in her throat. Gods, how she’s longed to hear him say that! “On the, uh, on the couch, I mean. Or, I can take the couch, you can have my bed? Only, I don’t want you walking home in this.” 

They both turn to see another fork of lightning flash, lighting up the street outside Barry’s house. Rain floods down the road like a river. She nods. 

“Okay, uh, sure. Sounds good,” she replies. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY so they've not got to the one bed bit YET but I'm sure everyone knows where this is going!!!!! I will never in a million years get sick of writing it. Every chapter could be "there was only one bed" and I'd still be as delighted by it every time. Whoever invented this trope deserves an award of some kind tbqh. Also @ everyone who was like "this is peak pining" on the last chapter: we've got a long way to go yet and I think this chapter demonstrates that ;)  
> Also, I learned that apparently Riverdale is _wild as fuck._ Like what happened when they adapted Archie comics to make Betty a dominatrix??? Is that true????? Why would they do that?? I felt like I was hallucinating as it was being described to me, the plot sounds like something out of a fucking fever dream. The only things I knew about Riverdale before now was that thing like. "You never knew the highs and lows of high school football" and "I always wear this stupid hat. That's weird" and I assumed it was like high school musical or glee or whatever.  
> Also this year we have to watch these hour-long prerecorded lectures online? And I asked in my groupchat if it was better or worse than the (boring) ones we had to watch in first year and simultaneously everyone was like "worse. Oh my god its so much worse" so I've got that to look forward to.  
> Uh anyways please leave a comment or a kudos!!


	8. Chapter 8

So, Lup’s spending the night on Barry’s couch. 

It’s hardly, like, new territory for her. She’s couch-surfed before – she and Taako were homeless for most of their youth, of course she has – but there’s something about it being _Barry_ that drives her insane. Her brain is conspiring against her and she hates it. 

“Okay,” she says. “So I’m taking the couch.” 

“No, I mean. I can if you want.” 

“No, no, Bear, it’s fine. I will.” 

“Oh, but, you’re taller than me. And the couch isn’t gonna be comfortable.” 

They both turn to look at it. It’s only wide enough for two people; whichever of them sleeps on it is going to have their head propped up on one armrest and their legs on the other. “It’s fine, babe,” she says. “I’m used to roughing it.” 

That only makes him look more concerned about it. “You shouldn’t have to be,” he says, softly. “I - Lup, it’s important to me that you’re comfortable.” 

It’s not fair that he’s giving her _that_ look, so full of caring and tenderness. She can practically feel her knees going weak. “It’s your bed, Barold, it wouldn’t be fair for me to take it,” she insists. 

He shrugs. “Only for one night. It wouldn’t kill me.” 

“Yeah, but I’ll be fine too.” 

He frowns. “Like I said, you’re taller.” 

“It’s your house,” she reiterates, obstinately. “Flip a coin?” 

He chuckles. “Yeah, sure. Have you got any change?” 

She grabs her laptop bag from the front door, pulling a bronze piece from the front pocket. She flips it into the air, catching it in her palm and quickly covering it before he can see. “Call it, babe.” 

“Heads,” he says, crossing his fingers with a smile. She opens her palm to reveal the coin landed on tails. “Fuck.” 

“I’m on the couch,” she grins. “You get the bed. I’ll be fine! You’ve got a spare pillow, right? And some blankets?” 

He pulls a face. “Yeah, for all the good it’ll do. I’m sure you’ll have all kinds of muscle pain tomorrow.” 

She shrugs. “Unless we’re gonna share your bed, one of us is gonna have to suck it up.” 

There’s a pause. He looks at her. She looks at him. “Uh,” he says, eloquently. “We - we can? If – if you’re comfortable?” He’s so obviously nervous at even the concept, but – Lup doesn’t want to sleep on the couch. Barry's right, it’s not gonna be fun to get up early tomorrow morning with a crick in her neck. 

Plus, she _does_ want to share a bed with him. 

Obviously, she’d keep her hands to herself. She’s not going to make him do anything he doesn’t want to, that’d be gross as fuck. But, simultaneously, this way she can pretend, just for one night... And would that do any harm? 

“It’s a double, right?” She asks, her voice a croak, after a pause she’s sure is noticeably far too long. “As much as I love you, Bear, I don’t want to have to wrap myself around you just to keep from falling off the edge.” 

Mmmm, what a delicious concept. Her, tangled around him, her arms around his chest, maybe? For stability’s sake, of course. Now she kind of hopes it _is_ a single... 

“No,” he chuckles. “It’s a double. We can build a pillow wall, if you want. Keep our separate halves.” 

She’s half-relieved, half-gutted. “Great,” she says. “No need for the pillow wall, though, Bear, I can keep my hands to myself.” 

He chuckles too. “Well, I mean, are you tired? We could, uh, head to bed whenever you feel like it.” 

“Yeah, I mean, it’s ten o’clock? I’ve got lectures at eight, tomorrow. And I’ll have to walk back to me ‘n’ Ko’s house for, like, a shower and a change of clothes, so... For my eight hours of beauty sleep we probably need to be turning in fairly soon. If you’re okay, y’know, with that?” 

He nods. “Yeah, yeah, of course. I don’t mind an early start tomorrow. Uh, talking about a change of clothes, you’ve not got any pyjamas with you, huh?” 

She grimaces. “Oh, yeah. Uh. Wasn’t planning on spending the night, actually.” 

“It’s cool,” he says. “I’ve got plenty of spares. They might be a little big on you? Around the waist, I guess? But they should be okay.” 

“Oh, thanks!” She says. “That’s defo better than sleeping fully clothed.” 

“Yeah, I figured,” he says. “It’d be silly to share a bed so you’re more comfortable and then make you sleep fully clothed. At least if you were sleeping on the couch you could do it in your underwear, you know?” 

She laughs. “Very true.” Even the _idea_ of being in just her underwear in Barry’s house is enough to set her pulse racing, but she shoves that image to the very back of her mind, in the deepest nook she can find. 

He leads her to his bedroom – she feels like a child on Candlenights morning! - and opens the door, holding it open for her like a butler for a lady of high society. His bedroom is nice, if sparse – there's a double bed, as promised, and a closet. But the main thing in this room is his bookshelf, a floor-to-ceiling ornately carved oak piece that’s crammed with books, ornaments, and photographs. 

Her normal pyjamas are a crop top and shorts, but she can’t bring herself to complain about the batman t-shirt and shorts Barry fishes out for her. It’s going to be baggy around the chest and tight around the shoulders, but wearing Barry’s clothes is such an adorable idea that she can't be anything but happy about it. 

“I’ll, uh, I’ll head to the bathroom while you get changed,” he says. She nods as he disappears, and she pulls her shirt over her head and tugs on Barry’s pyjama shirt. As expected, it’s a poor fit, and the shorts are practically falling off, so she has to tighten the pull-string to account for it, but she thinks they look _very_ cute on her. So _this_ is why people wear their boyfriends’ clothes... 

She takes a moment, now she’s alone, to examine Barry’s bookshelf. Most of the books are textbooks on physics and magic that she recognises as readings he’s done for class, but there’s a fair amount on astronomy, history, psychology, computing, and every other imaginable topic. The top two shelves are dedicated to fiction – Pratchett next to Asimov and Shelley. The photographs are all of people she recognises, except for a few of a woman Lup guesses must be Barry’s mum. She leans in to examine her face closer, and, sure enough, she recognises the general face shape, and those eyes are clearly Barry’s. Big and blue and soft. 

She’s startled out of her snooping when Barry knocks on the door. “Lup? You decent?” 

“Oh, hold on, babe!” she calls, turning to scoop her underwear up off the floor and cram it in her bag. “You can come in.” 

He’s in his pyjamas, too, a pair of plain, navy blue shorts and a t-shirt, and wielding a toothbrush, still in its plastic wrapping. “Here,” he says. “Found a spare. Figured you wouldn’t want to share mine.” 

Even in her enamoured state, Lup doesn’t want to share his toothbrush. Make out with him, yes, but oral hygiene is no joke. “Thanks.” 

She takes the toothbrush from him and heads to the bathroom herself. She brushes, spits, and flosses, and then takes a moment to examine herself in the mirror. 

Is she really ready to share a bed with Barry? Is she really going to be able to pretend like this isn’t something she’s dreamed about since they first became friends? What if he realises? What if he’s uncomfortable? 

She walks back to his room before she can psych herself out and relegate herself back to the couch. He’s already in bed, the duvet pulled up around his neck, lying so close to one edge of the bed that it looks like he’s at risk of falling off. 

“I’m not gonna bite, you know,” she smiles, maybe a little nervously. 

“Oh, uh – yeah, yeah,” he says, flushing crimson, and shuffles a little closer to the centre, at least enough that he’s not at imminent risk of sliding off. She pulls the duvet back herself and lies down – and, contrary to her own advice, she makes sure to give Barry plenty of room. 

She doesn’t want to make him uncomfortable. And he’s already clearly so nervous that it doesn’t seem like it’d take very much. 

She grabs her phone from the pillow to set an alarm for the morning, when a realisation hits her. Gods, how is she going to tell Taako she’s sleeping at Barry’s? She’s pretty sure whatever she says, he’s going to act like she’s _sleeping at Barry’s -_ which is obviously totally different. 

_Hey don’t worry I’m staying at Barrys to miss the storm,_ she types, and puts her phone on silent, sliding it under her pillow so she won’t have to deal with her brother any time soon. 

“You sure this is okay, Lup?” He asks, and she laughs. 

“Bear, cha’gal doesn’t do anything she doesn’t want to. And this is so much better than the couch. Is it... okay with you?” 

He nods, furiously. “Yeah, yeah, it’s fine. It’s - I wouldn’t be able to sleep knowing you were uncomfortable.” 

She smiles, even though they’re both lying on their backs and he won’t see it. He’s willing to compromise his own comfort for the sake of hers. She loves that about him – he's so generous and kind and - 

Gods, this is, like, the fifth time tonight she’s had to stop herself gushing over Barry’s good qualities. She’d be furious about the vice grip he’s got over her brain, if she didn’t love him so much. 

“Lup, is it okay if I turn out the lights?” He asks, and she nods. 

“Yeah, good idea. We should probably be turning in.” 

He reaches over to flick the switch, and they’re plunged into darkness. Even Lup’s elven eyes take a minute to adjust, and all she can hear is Barry’s breathing and the rain on the window. 

“Goodnight, Lup,” he says. 

“Night, Barry,” she replies. 

For a minute, she just lies there. 

How had she believed she’d be able to sleep in the same bed as Barry? The idea seems laughable, now she can hear him breathing and feel his warmth next to her. 

Maybe if she just rolls over, she’ll be able to pretend he’s not there. Maybe she can close her eyes, focus on something else, and get some rest. 

She rolls to face away from him, and for a minute, it works. She’s still acutely aware of him beside her, but it’s less obvious, and she can maybe see herself getting some shut-eye eventually. In her desperation to stop focusing on Barry, she finds herself idly fixating on what he uses to wash his pillows. It’s got a nice scent to it, and she breathes deeply to get a few lungfuls of it before she realises what it is. 

Fuck. The pillow smells of Barry. 

She rolls back onto her back again. This way, she’ll have to deal with him being in her eyeline again, but at least she won’t be feeling like a creep for _smelling his pillows._ She can’t quite believe she did that. 

Although, is it her fault? The dude smells nice, so what? She’d have noticed that even if she weren’t enamoured, she tries desperately to convince herself. 

She looks at him from the corner of her eye, and finds that he’s also rolled over, but he’s lying facing her. It seems like he’s maybe forgotten she has darkvision, because he’s watching her with a kind of goofy grin on his face. 

She’s not going to read into that. That could mean anything. Maybe he’s laughing at the way she’s tossing and turning. Maybe he’s thinking about something funny – probably something immensely witty she’d said earlier. She _is_ hilarious, after all. It doesn’t mean – it’s not because she’s here. 

She tries to bring her brain back under her own control, focusing on the sounds of the rain lashing down on Barry’s roof. The rhythmic sound helps, and she can almost feel herself drifting off, until Barry shifts position and his bare legs rub against hers. 

“Fuck, sorry,” he says, quietly. “I didn’t mean -” 

The brief moment of contact was like an electric shock, reverberating up her whole body. When Barry pulled away, it was like she’d been disconnected from life support, like a shot to the heart. 

“It’s fine,” she says, trying to keep her voice level even as her heart races. 

It’s not fair he can do that to her with just an accidental touch. Even the touch of his absolutely freezing toes against her leg was somehow a pleasurable feeling, something she’d _beg_ for more of if she didn’t have her dignity. 

Instead, she tries to recapture the feeling of serenity from before. She focuses on the soft drumbeat of the rain, keeping her breathing steady and deep, trying to fall asleep. 

But instead she finds another drumbeat hidden in that of the rain. A steady _one-two, one-two, one-two._ And the more she tries to drown it out, the more it’s all she can hear. What is that? 

“Bear,” she whispers, intending to ask if he can hear anything. 

“Lup?” His voice, sounding as wide-awake as her own, answers. 

She furrows her brow. Why had the noise sped up? Her ears perk up and she lifts her head from the pillow, trying to get a read on which direction it’s coming from. She cocks her head as she focuses. 

Oh. 

It’s Barry. 

His heartbeat, loud and strong, echoing in her elven ears. It’s like every part of him is tailored to distract her; his warmth at her side, his breath and heartbeat in her ears, his scent in her nose. How could she ever sleep in this? It’s like being in a theme park or an arcade; a deluge of information being fed to her brain through every sense. 

“Lup, are you okay?” 

She licks her lips, finding them suddenly dry. “Yeah, babe, all good.” 

“Sure?” He asks, in the tone of voice she likes to imagine is reserved just for her, the tone that says she’s the most important thing in the world to him, the tone that says she’s _everything,_ the tone she’s fallen in love with. But, she’s sure it’s not just for her, as much as she’d like it to be. Barry cares about everyone, and it wouldn’t be fair to try to monopolise that. 

“Yeah, Barry, I’m good. Promise.” 

He nods, accepting it without further question. They lie like that for another minute, listening to the rain fall and each other breathe. 

And then, his hand brushes hers. 

Again, it’s a feeling like a jolt of electricity. She’s sure she gasps, but Barry doesn’t say anything about it, instead just placing his palm in hers, softly, so his hand is just resting atop hers. 

Now, it’s not as if they’ve never touched hands before. They’ve been friends for years; it’d be hard to avoid. But their hands brushing against each other in the library or a classroom is very different to him _holding her hand in bed._

She tries not to overthink it. If she overthinks it, she’ll pull away. She’ll tell herself that he’s asleep, he’s dreaming, maybe he’s having a nightmare and seeking comfort, that she’d be taking advantage of him. 

Instead, she simply laces their fingers together, loosely enough that she can tell herself that this is casual. 

And they don’t move, for a minute. Her mouth is dry, her own heartbeat ringing in her ears. 

It’s funny, she reflects. Twenty-four hours ago, if someone had offered her the chance to share a bed with Barry Bluejeans, she’d have sold her soul. Ten minutes ago, if she’d been offered the opportunity to hold his hand, she’d have given anything. Now, she’s got both of those things, and she still wants _more._

She wants to roll over and wrap an arm around him. She wants to kiss him. She wants to run her fingers through his hair, or over his skin, etching every curve of his body indelibly into her mind. 

She wants to let go of his hand and roll over, sit astride him, and lean down and kiss him until they run out of breath. She wants to fall asleep wrapped in his arms, not just holding his hand. She wants to sleep with him every night, not just as a one-off. 

She settles for tightening her grip on his hand, squeezing lightly. He squeezes back. 

So, he’s not asleep. He’s not doing it by accident. He’s holding her hand. 

But, wouldn’t it be greedy to ask for more? She’s got so much already – the friendship of this beautiful man is worth more than she can ever articulate, and she’s not willing to risk it. Lup knows she can’t be lucky enough for him to like her back. 

Lup isn’t _lucky._ Lup was born with nothing but her brother, and everything she has now she’s earned, worked her ass off for and attained through sheer force of will, raw skill, and unadulterated, pure determination _._ But she could never _earn_ Barry’s affection. He’s worth a million of her. He’s kind, he’s sweet, he’s caring, he’s handsome, and she’s brash and teasing and rude and - and as much as she deludes herself, he won’t be interested in her. He can’t be. 

This will have to be enough. She can’t ask for more. 

And yet, here she lies, in his bed, with him, holding his hand. 

Is there a deeper meaning there? Does he feel the same way? Is it even possible that someone like Barry Bluejeans could love someone like Lup Taaco? 

She thinks about that heartbeat she’d heard earlier. Barry’s heartbeat, that sped up at the sound of her voice. Barry, lying where he thinks she can’t see and watching her, a lovestruck grin on his face. Barry, so kind and so loving. Maybe, just maybe, there is something between them. 

She falls asleep, eventually, the sound of Barry’s gentle breathing filling her ears and his hand in hers, fitting like they were built to be together. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hell yeah I LOVE this chapter. Also. Every chapter after this. I think they're all really good and I'm super fucking excited for everyone to see them and even though I upload seven times a week I wanna do more.......  
> Anyways!!! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I had a class on Tuesday that was an hour long, but it takes me over an hour to get the train in. My commute into class was over twice as long as the class itself. I wish they'd just put our fucking lectures online!!!! Hell government won't close schools!!!!!!!  
> I hope you guys are all staying safe, and planning to vote! Even if you live in a deep-blue or dark-red area, it's worth voting, because if the republicans win your state by 200,000 votes it's very different to them winning by 50,000 votes - they'll have to spend more to try and convince people in your area, which means less spending elsewhere. Obviously the reverse is true with the democrats - you want them to spend as little as possible in your area so they can spend more in hotly-contested regions. Anyway! Thank you for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

Lup blinks herself slowly awake, light filtering through curtains and dazzling her for a second. Where is she? She looks around at the unfamiliar desk, closet, bookshelf, man sleeping next to her - 

Oh, yeah. 

She’s got an arm around his chest and her legs entangled in his. And sure, maybe she should’ve worked out where she was sooner, considering she’d woken up face-to-face with Barry, but she’d assumed it was Taako. 

She’s glad it isn’t, though. 

She takes a beat to enjoy the closeness, his warmth under her, his chest rising and falling, the tiny snores he’s making. She knows she’ll have to pull away, but it’s just so _nice._ As much as it pains her, though, she doesn’t want him waking up to find her wrapped around him. He’d probably be pretty uncomfortable with that, even if it was entirely unintentional. She got such a good night’s sleep, though, and now she knows why. 

She just watches him for a second longer. His hair is a mess, his fringe hanging down over his eyes, and he’s snoring, his mouth hanging open, but somehow he’s still the cutest thing she’s ever seen. She reaches forward to brush the hair from his face, but catches herself – _too intimate, Lup,_ she scolds herself. 

Then her phone’s alarm goes off from under her pillow, deafeningly loud, shattering the peaceful moment. “Fuck,” she says, out loud, and fumbles for it. Where had it gone in the night? Her tossing and turning has clearly dislodged it, and it’s not under her pillow any more. 

By the time she finds it and swipes to dismiss the alarm, Barry’s awake. “Hey, Lup,” he says, looking at her through half-lidded eyes, and she gives him a smile. 

“Hey, Bear, sleep well?” 

“Until just now? Like a baby,” he grins, sleepily, his eyes bleary, and it’s just about the cutest thing Lup’s ever seen. 

“Yeah, sorry,” she says, ruefully. “I forgot I’d set it.” 

She looks back down at the screen and finds _22_ _new messages._ Probably all from Taako. She swipes to open the phone and skims them. There’s a lot of wink-y faces and eggplant and peach emojis. She switches off her phone’s screen without gracing her shit-eating brother with a reply. 

“Do you, uh, want to shower here?” Barry offers. “Rather than walking home?” 

Fuck. Now, there’s a question. Showering here would mean wearing the same clothes as yesterday in to class again, and someone might notice. Not to mention how gross that is. Buuuut, it’d also mean getting another hour in bed with Barry, because she wouldn’t have to walk home. Hmm. 

She’s almost ashamed to admit how torn she is, but eventually good hygiene wins out. “Nah, I need a change of clothes, babe,” she says, with a sad shrug. “I’d stay if I could.” 

Woah, Lup, chill. That came _far_ too close to a confession, there. 

“Ah, thought I might be able to tempt you,” he chuckles. “What a role reversal, huh? Normally you’re the one trying to convince me to skip lectures.” 

_Gods,_ does she want to cut class for the day. She could stay here, get an extra couple of hours of sleep wrapped in Barry’s arms, and then spend all day nerding out with him? Even working on a presentation for class somehow sounds appealing when it’s Barry she’d be working with. 

“Yeah,” she says. “Never thought Barry Bluejeans would be the devil on my shoulder.” 

“Ah, the fashion wouldn’t suit me,” he says. “They all wear suits. Can you imagine me in a suit?” 

“Maybe a denim-blue one,” she says, and he chuckles. 

“True, true. I’m thinking about getting one of those graduation caps, the square ones, in denim. Do you think they’ll let me?” 

She laughs at the image of a sea of black-robed graduating students and Barry in denim. “Probably not, but, y’know, you miss a hundred per cent of the shots you don’t take. Ask ‘em.” 

He smiles. “Not sure my mum would appreciate it, even if they did. She doesn’t even know about this stupid nickname. When I visit, she calls me Sildar, and it takes me a couple of seconds to work out who she’s talking to.” 

“Nickname?” She feigns ignorance. “What nickname?” 

“Oh, Barry’s not my real name,” he says. “You _know_ it’s Barold, Lup, come on.” 

They both laugh, and, okay, maybe Lup’s like 90% of the way towards skipping her lecture for the day. She’s so cosy, his bed is so warm, it’s so early, and Barry’s _so_ cute. Maybe instead she should lean over and kiss him? She’s sure they could get a lot of _homework_ done. 

But he smiles, sadly, and says, “you need to get up, or you’ll be late.” 

She grimaces. “Fuck. Are you sure we can’t go back to sleep?” 

“I’m not gonna tell you what to do,” he shrugs. “But last night you were pretty adamant about getting up early.” 

She tries to scowl, but there’s a smile glimmering in there, pulling at the corners of her mouth. “Gods, you know exactly what to say to convince me.” 

“I know the only person who can convince Lup to do anything is Lup,” he teases. “I just have to recite your own your words back to you.” 

“Fine, fine, I’m getting up,” she gripes, pushing the sheet back off herself and rolling so her legs are out of bed. She stretches, working the stiffness from her joints, and stands. His breath hitches as her shirt rides up, exposing her toned stomach, but she dismisses it with a scowl to herself. _It doesn’t mean anything, Lup._ “Back in a minute, babe.” 

She heads to the bathroom to brush her teeth with her borrowed toothbrush, taking her clothes with her so she can get changed. He’s still in bed when she gets back, the sheet pulled up around his neck and his eyes half-lidded. He looks so cosy that Lup seriously considers getting changed back into the pyjamas and taking a nap. 

“What shall I do with these pyjamas?” She says, before she can join him. “Thanks for the loan, but they’re not my usual style, so you can have them back.” 

“Oh, uh, just dump ‘em on the floor,” he says, drowsily. “I’ll wash them later. Too sleepy to get up.” 

She chuckles. “Sure. I’ll let myself out and see you later?” 

He gives a murmur of assent as his eyes slowly close, and so she collects up her stuff and heads out. She pauses for a second in the doorway to watch him sleep; his breathing deep and steady, his mouth open slightly. She gives a soft smile, and closes the door behind her. 

Lup softly opens the door to her and Taako’s apartment, breathing a sigh of relief that she left Barry’s so early – it's six in the morning, and there’s no _way_ Taako’s awake this early, so she won’t have to deal with any of his shit. 

That thought has barely finished running through her mind when the light in the living room flicks on to reveal Taako, sat in the armchair, arms crossed. “And just where have you been, young lady?” 

She jumps and gasps in surprise, almost dropping her bag. “Taako, what the fuck?” 

“I’ve been up all night worrying about you,” he says. “What time do you call this?” 

She gives him a Look. “There’s no way you’ve been up all night.” 

“No, obviously not. I got up to piss and saw that you’d left Barold’s on my Fantasy Google Maps. The point stands, though.” 

“Isn’t Kravitz here?” She tries to deflect. “Where’s he?” 

“Uh, in bed? What kind of lunatic would get up at six in the fucking morning?” 

“You’re up,” she points out. 

“Only to chew out my baby sister for staying out late,” he retorts. “Speaking of, gimme the fucking _deets_ _,_ Lu. Did you finally ask the guy? How, uh, how was it? Y’know, _it._ ” He winks, and she can tell he’s only half-joking. 

She makes a show of ignoring him to hang up her jacket and take her shoes off. 

“Lulu,” he says. “Please tell me you didn’t sleep a whole night at his house without confessing.” 

She doesn’t reply, even though she knows her silence will tell him everything. He puts his head in his hands. 

“How are you so fucking bad at this,” he moans. “Did you sleep on his couch? On the _floor?”_

She winces. He’s asked the question she’d really hoped he wouldn’t. “In his bed.” 

His mouth drops open as he looks up at her. “Lup, are you – you shared his _bed_ and you didn’t ask him out? I’m going to kill you, I swear to god.” 

She groans, flopping down on the couch. “Please do. It’d be a fucking mercy.” 

“So, what happened? He said ‘sleep in my bed, but platonically,’ and you _did?!”_

“Yeah, pretty much,” she says. “I was gonna sleep on the couch, but he said he’d feel bad, so – gods, Taako, he lent me his _pyjamas.”_

Confessing is embarrassing, but cathartic. Everything feels like it’s building up behind the floodgates, ready to come bursting out if she doesn’t talk about it. 

Taako puts his head in his hands again. “Lup, oh my god.” 

“Taako, how does this happen to me? Like, what the fuck happened to my brain? Looking back on it, like, yeah, okay, I probably should’ve said, like, ‘hey, Barold, I’m super into you, and it’s real obvious you’re into me too because we’re sharing a bed.’ But my fucking brain just won’t -” 

“Yeah, it’s, like, _so obvious,_ Lup,” he chimes in. “I know we’ve joked about this, but do you need cue cards, or something? Shall I write a script on your hand?” 

“I’d probably drop the cards all over the floor, with how everything’s been going,” Lup replies. “Or get them out of order and say something offensive, I don’t know.” 

Taako laughs. “I was going to tell you how my date with Kravitz went, but it feels like it’d be rubbing salt in the wound, at this point.” 

“No, go on,” she says. “Anything to take my mind off Barry.” 

“Okay, well, we had dinner, obviously, and he loved it. Said it was the best cooking he’d ever tasted,” Taako preens. “And then we watched a movie, and went upstairs. Unlike you, my bed-sharing was entirely _not_ platonic.” 

She scowls at him. “Fuck you, Ko. I don’t want to hear that bit.” 

His expression softens. “Lup...” 

“It’s fine, Taako,” she says, not really mad but maybe a little grumpy. 

He obviously hears her tempestuous tone, because he looks away. “Sorry.” 

“It’s okay,” she says, reaching out to place a hand on his arm. “Just... I don’t know. The longer this goes on, the harder it gets. It’s like, I’m climbing a mountain and every time I think I’ve reached the top it just gets steeper. He – last night, I was all ready to confess, and the _fucking doorbell rang._ As I was opening my mouth. I mean, gods, Taako.” 

Taako huffs a laugh. “That’s, like, some real rom-com shit.” He pauses a moment. “Want pancakes?” 

Lup knows that he’s offering an olive branch for being snippy, even if he wouldn’t admit that’s what it is. She checks her phone. “Fuck, do you think I’ve got time?” 

“You’re in at eight, right? And you’ll have to have a shower before then, you’re greasy as fuck,” Taako says, ignoring Lup’s angry squawk of protest as he continues, “so I’ll make ‘em while you get ready. Krav can come eat with us too, assuming he doesn’t mind getting up early.” 

“Only if do ‘em with blueberries,” she says, already getting up for her shower. He rolls his eyes. 

“Yeah, Lup, I’m not a fucking barbarian,” he says. “Now get out of here, c’mon. Be liberal with the deodorant, you stink.” 

“I smell like a fucking angel, you heathen,” she says, breezing out of the room even as he pinches his nose shut and wafts the air exaggeratedly. 

The hot water wakes Lup up a bit, but she still can’t stop replaying last night with Barry in her mind. The delicious detail she hadn’t imparted to Taako really pops out in her memory – the smell of him, holding his hand, his warmth on her as they woke up together - 

She reaches out and turns the temperature gauge down. 

Maybe she should’ve taken the opportunity. When he’d put his hand in hers, she should’ve snuggled up to him, put an arm around his chest. Maybe she should’ve pressed a kiss to his lips, run a hand through his hair, pulled his shirt off - 

Her fumbling hands find the faucet again, only to realise that the water is already as cold as it’ll go. Fuck. 

“Taako, where’s the – oh, hi, Kravitz,” she says. “Where’s Ko?” 

Kravitz looks up at her blearily. He’s sat at the table, nursing a mug of coffee, with Taako’s stack of pancakes in front of her. “Hm? Oh, uh, he went to get dressed. Can I help?” 

She adjusts the towel she’s wrapped her hair up in. “Nah, the fucker just hid the hairdryer. It’s probably in his room anyway, no big, I’ll find it later.” 

“Uh, I think he made you a coffee,” he says. “On the counter.” 

“Thanks,” she says, taking it and sitting opposite him, her feet up on the table, fixing him with her best intimidating gaze. “So.” 

Kravitz’s eyes go wide and he licks his lips. “Uh, yes?” 

“You’re dating Taako, huh? And it’s serious enough that you’re sleeping over already?” 

He gulps. “I - I hope it’s serious. I really like Taako.” 

She nods, cracking a smile. “Right answer, my dude.” She takes a swig of coffee as she sizes him up. “You don’t need to look so nervous. I’m not gonna yell at you, or anything. Taako’s a big boy. I trust his judgement in who he dates.” 

“Right,” he says, but he doesn’t look any less nervous. “Okay.” 

“C’mon, for real,” she says. “I’m cool, I promise. Whatever Taako’s told you about me, it’s all lies. Have a pancake.” 

“Uh, Taako said not to have any until he got back -” He interjects, but Lup’s already taken a couple from the top. She grins. 

“He’s not the boss of us, c’mon,” she says. “They’ll only go cold if you don’t, Taako could take hours to get ready if he’s doing his hair and makeup.” 

He reluctantly takes one from the top of the pile, putting it on his own plate. Just as he does so, Taako walks in, stopping dead in the doorway when he takes in the scene. “Krav!” 

His eyes go wide and he swivels in his chair. “Taako, I -” 

“I expected this betrayal from Lup, but I’m stunned that you’d stoop so low,” Taako says. “I thought what we had was special.” 

Kravitz flushes a deep red at Taako’s teasing, but before he can reply, Lup cuts in. “I tried to stop him, Ko, but he just wouldn’t listen.” 

“Wha -” 

“You weren’t content with eating without me, you led my sister astray too? For shame, Kravitz,” Taako shakes his head, faux-sadly. 

“I -” 

“It was scary, Ko, he just kept eating, he wouldn’t stop, I was begging -” 

“Lup, I can’t believe he’d betray me like this -” 

Kravitz places his head in his hands, and Taako seems to take sympathy. “We’re just fuckin’ with you, Krav,” he says, stepping closer and placing a hand on his shoulder. “It’s all good.” Kravitz looks up, his face still tinged with red, and Taako leans in for a kiss. Naturally, Lup makes gagging noises at them. 

“Take that bullshit back upstairs,” she says. “Not in my kitchen, thank you.” 

Taako flips her off without even looking, straddling Kravitz’s lap. Lup scowls. 

She knows he’s only doing it to piss her off. Hell, she’s done it to him before, when their roles have been reversed. It’s all in good fun. But somehow it feels like a snub when she thinks of Barry. 

What she wouldn’t give to sit in Barry’s lap... She’s happy for Taako, really she is, but watching him with Kravitz is just an agonising reminder of her own inability to say anything to Barry. 

With a sound like a plunger being pulled from a blocked toilet, Taako surfaces for air. Kravitz looks mildly dazed, but Taako just swivels in his lap and drizzles his boyfriend’s pancake with syrup, taking a huge forkful before getting up to sit in his own chair. Kravitz barely even seems to register the theft, tucking into his pancake without acknowledging it. 

They're so fucking domestic, already. Lup can practically believe they’re an old married couple, if she didn’t know they’d only been dating for two weeks. And sure, she’d probably be making jabs about how gross it all is, if it weren’t everything she wants. 

She blinks, suddenly aware of the odd silence that’s descended. Kravitz doesn’t look as if he’s noticed, eating his pancakes and not looking at her, but Taako’s watching her with a concerned look on his face. She flashes him a quick smile before tucking in. 

He doesn’t stop looking, instead just raising an inquisitive eyebrow – a clear _you okay?_ She shrugs. He purses his lips and looks concerned, but with a quick side-eyed glance at Kravitz he clearly decides the conversation can wait. 

“Okay, Ko, where’s the hairdryer?” She asks, with her mouth full of the last of her pancakes. “I need to head out and it’s not in the drawer, you know, where it’s meant to be?” 

“Probably in my room,” Taako says, unrepentant. “Dunno.” 

“Dick,” she says, but there’s no venom in her tone. “I’m gonna go find it. If there’s anything in your room you don’t want me seeing, deal with it now.” 

She stands up and starts to head out, but she pauses in the doorway as Taako turns to Kravitz and starts up a conversation. Kravitz’s enthusiastic reply makes her smile – they're an objectively cute couple. It’s just a shame she can’t quite get there with Barry. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, for my American friends - don't get complacent. Biden can still lose. Polls were wrong in 2016. If you're registered, go vote.
> 
> Anyways, on a more fun note, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I have to admit that at this point all I want to do is write cuddles but I know I have to be strong!!! It wouldn't be a slowburn fic if I caved and just let them kiss already, right?  
> Also, if you haven't read my other fic, Dawn of the Dad, I promise it is very cute and angsty, and we've just reached the first sort of mini-conclusion and shit's about to pop off, so now's a good time! Also, on Halloween I'm going to post a little reaper squad fic I've written! So I hope you'll all check that out, maybe?  
> I don't have any personal stories to add here because nothing has happened to me all week. I guess I did buy the Outer Worlds? That's a very fun game and I'm enjoying it a lot!! I'm living out my anti-capitalist dreams while also being friends with some lesbians on our spaceship and honestly isn't that just the ideal life? The only thing is that I had to turn the graphics settings down because I think I need a new graphics card :/ or maybe more RAM. Or both. I somehow only have 8 GB of RAM? I'm sure I had 16 and I don't know where the other 8 went? To the person who stole 8 GB of RAM from me: I _will_ find you. You can run but you can't hide.
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading!!! Please leave a comment or a kudos, I love you, stay safe!


	10. Chapter 10

Taako shuffles from foot to foot nervously, trying not to make his anxious energy obvious to Lup, who’s stood beside him. 

It’s silly, really, it’s not as if Lup hasn’t met Kravitz a couple of times before. And, even if she hadn’t, this shouldn’t be such a big deal. 

But, gods, he’s nervous. 

It’s important to Taako that Lup approves. If she doesn’t, well... 

His inability to say what he’d do in that situation is a big part of the issue. Everyone he’s ever dated before has been temporary. He’s known that going in – they've been a fleeting distraction, a way to have fun and blow off some steam. He'd thought that about Kravitz, at first. But he’s almost embarrassed at how quickly the guy had overcome his defences and wormed his way into Taako’s heart. 

If Lup had asked, he’d have dumped any of his previous dates in a heartbeat. Kravitz, though? He’s not so sure. 

So, yeah, it matters to him that Lup approves. And it sure wouldn’t hurt if Barry did, too, which is a whole other kettle of emotional fish that Taako’s not willing to get into now. 

Then Kravitz walks around the corner, violin case in hand, and Taako grins. “Hey, Krav!” He says, skipping up to him and planting a kiss on his cheek. “How’s it going?” 

“Better now I’ve seen you,” Kravitz says, with a slight blush already forming on his cheeks. Sap. 

Lup makes a retching noise, but Taako just rolls his eyes. “Please, like you wouldn’t want Barry to say this sappy shit to you.” 

Lup’s face turns stormy. “Don’t say that, he might hear, you dick.” 

Kravitz looks between them, clearly picking up on the fact there’s something of a backstory to that conversation, but wisely changes the subject. “So, Lup, Taako tells me you’re a violinist?” 

“Oh, yeah!” She says. “Probably not up to your standards, though. I've heard tell of your exploits. Is it true you can play the Final Countdown?” 

Kravitz turns to look at Taako. Taako’s got a look on his face like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth, but after a moment of being stared down he grins deviously and shrugs. 

“I had to tell her, Krav, it’s really funny.” 

He scowls, but he can’t keep it up when Taako slips a hand in his, reverting to the lovestruck grin he’s been wearing so much recently. 

“Barry plays piano, too. He's really good. We’ve played duets,” Lup says, and Taako would say that even Kravitz probably notices the blush rising to her cheeks. 

“Do you think he’d be interested in joining the orchestra?” Kravitz stammers out. “You’re welcome, too, of course - we’re always looking for more players -” 

Lup sucks her teeth, pulling a face as she thinks. “I dunno. We’ve both been real busy, recently. Who knew there’d be so much work in your final year as a student?” 

“Well, please, consider it,” Kravitz begins, just before Taako interjects. 

“Just not the kind of _busy_ you want, huh, Lulu?” He asks, a shit-eating grin on his face. 

Lup’s beginning to look positively murderous, but before anyone can defuse the situation Barry finally arrives, and immediately her look thaws. “Barry!” 

“Hey, Lup. Taako, Kravitz,” he says, rubbing his neck nervously. “Sorry I'm late, guys.” 

“No problem, Barold,” Taako says. “We were just talking about you, actually.” He winks exaggeratedly. 

Barry cocks his head. “Uh, good things, I hope?” 

“I heard you play the piano,” Kravitz says, taking pity on Barry after Taako’s teasing. “I wondered if you’d be interested in joining the school’s orchestra.” 

“Huh,” he says. “I’d like to, Krav, but...” 

Kravitz shrugs. “It’s no big deal. Everyone’s busy.” 

“Well, not just that, I haven’t played in a year or so. I don’t think I’m at orchestra level.” 

“He’s being modest, he’s actually very good,” Lup says, not looking at Barry. “We - our duet, he wrote most of it.” 

Taako glances at Kravitz – a long-suffering, exhausted look. He can see that same look reflected back, and Kravitz has only had to deal with his sister’s ridiculous pining for two minutes. 

“No, no, Lup, c’mon, you made that. Your playing was so beautiful -” Barry and Lup walk a few paces ahead, already so enraptured with one another they don’t notice Taako grab Kravitz’s arm to hold him back. 

“Do you see what I’m dealing with? They’re insufferable, aren’t they?” 

“And they’ve been doing this for four years?” Kravitz asks, incredulous. “It’s so obvious how they both feel -” 

Taako shakes his head. “My dude, don’t even start. I’ve said that so many times.” 

Kravitz chuckles. “It’s funny how different you two are. Lup’s been pining for four years, and I almost threw up on your shoes just once and now we’re -” 

_We’re what, Krav?_ Taako wants to ask. 

They haven’t really discussed what they are. Boyfriends? Taako would like them to be. But he’s not entirely sure Kravitz feels the same way. Is this serious? They’ve slept together, woken up and been domestic together, been on a couple of dates now... But does that make them _boyfriends?_

Maybe he’s more like Lup than Kravitz knows. Or than he’d like to admit. 

“Y’know,” Kravitz finishes lamely. 

Taako nods. “Y’know,” he echoes. 

They walk in silence for a second, snippets of Lup and Barry’s conversation drifting back to them. Taako debates slipping his hand into Kravitz’s, decides against it, and then quashes what he’s coming to think of as the Lup Instinct™ and does it anyway. Kravitz squeezes back. 

“You nervous?” Taako asks. “For your performance?” 

Kravitz chuckles softly. “No. I’ve done this for years. And violin has always come easy to me. If you want me to be nervous you’ve got to break out the clarinets. Woodwind was never my strong suit.” 

“Do kazoos count as woodwind? Because you’ve certainly got kazoo proficiency, m’dude,” Taako laughs. 

Kravitz shakes his head, ruefully. “I regret showing you that video every day.” 

Even while Taako and Kravitz are chatting, Taako’s keeping an eye on Lup. She’s maintaining a respectful distance from Barry, despite both their longing glances when the other isn’t looking, and he’s having to constantly quash the urge to just walk up and squash them together. 

Instead, he presses himself into Kravitz’s side, shooting him his most winning grin. Kravitz smiles back and squeezes his hand. 

It’s not long before they’re at the university’s auditorium. Barry and Lup wait outside the main entrance, while Taako presses a kiss to Kravitz’s lips. “Knock ‘em dead,” he says, with a grin. 

Kravitz nods, kissing him back, and heads off towards the side entrance where the other orchestra players have gathered. Taako looks them over – they all look like massive dorks. Nothing like Kravitz, of course, who’s a dork but still hot. 

Reluctantly, he tears his eyes away from Kravitz’s retreating ass, and turns to Barry and Lup. “What’re you lovebirds talking about?” 

“Uh, our presentation,” Barry says, a blush forming on his cheeks. “I was telling Lup about traditional wand-crafting techniques -” 

“Oh,” Taako says. “I should’ve known it’d be some nerd shit. Can we go in? Apparently they’re doing a free glass of wine with every ticket.” 

“Fuck, really? And you didn’t tell me? C’mon, Bear, let’s go,” Lup says, taking Barry by the hand and leading him into the auditorium. 

Taako raises an eyebrow. They’re holding hands now? Finally, some progress. He hurries after them before they’re swallowed by the crowd. 

By the time he catches up with them, Lup’s already got her glass of wine. She sniffs at it, pulling a face. “I’d date this vintage at, uh, last week. It’s hardly gourmet.” 

“At least it’s free,” Taako says. Barry takes a sip from his glass and shrugs, clearly unperturbed by the quality. 

“Tastes fine to me,” he says, and chuckles at the matching disdainful looks he receives. “Hey, it’s wine. All grapes are the same.” 

Taako turns his withering gaze to Lup. _This is the guy you’re head over heels for?_ He tries to communicate. 

Lup glares back. _I’ve seen your guy, and this is a fight you don’t want to start,_ her look says. 

He shrugs. “Fair.” 

Barry looks between the two of them. “What? Did I miss something?” 

“No, Bear, it’s all good,” Lup says, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go find some seats.” 

They walk away, again leaving Taako behind to grab his own glass of wine. He takes his own sniff, recoiling a little at the smell. Yeah, it’s not good. He considers throwing the glass away immediately, but decides to keep it. Barry’ll probably drink it. 

He hurries after them again, pushing through the crowd to find the pair sat in the middle row of the arranged chairs. Lup’s staring daggers at the family sat next to her; two parents with three bawling babies. Taako takes a seat next to Barry, instead. 

“Wait, Ko, I was saving you a seat on this side -” 

“Next to the kids? You’re good, Lup,” Taako says. “It’s bad enough I have to sit next to _this_ big baby.” He nudges Barry, and passes over his wine. “Here. It’s revolting, but you like it.” 

“Thanks, Taako,” Barry smiles, and Taako almost scowls. Barry’s no fun to tease, any more. Lup’s made him too chill. And, maybe, his teasing doesn’t have the same bite that it used to. After all, Barry is his best... uh, acquaintance. Yeah. Best acquaintances. 

Before he can reflect for too long on that, a man comes out on stage. “Hey,” he says, glumly. “Hi, everyone. We’re starting, soon, so please take your seats, I guess. Thanks.” 

“He’s not got much stage presence, has he?” Taako whispers. 

“That’s Johann,” Barry whispers back. “He’s just like that. I heard him laugh, one time, and he just said “hee hee” in that same tone.” 

Lup laughs at Barry’s impression, placing a hand on his upper arm as she chuckles. Taako sighs and rolls his eyes as Barry flushes, diverting his gaze to watch the stage as musicians start filtering in. Kravitz is situated near the back, so Taako doesn’t get a great view of his maybe-boyfriend, but he gives him a wave and gets a grin in return. 

“We’re, like, ready, I guess,” Johann says, from the front of the stage. “So, if you could, like, quiet down, that’d be pretty sweet.” 

The hubbub from the crowd dies down, even as Taako and Lup snicker over Johann’s voice. Barry rolls his eyes. “He’s really quite nice,” he supplies, reproachfully, but with a small smile on his face. 

Then, Johann runs the bow over the strings of his violin, and the room is truly stunned into silence. Even the babies next to Lup are quiet. 

A piano chimes in, followed by more violins playing a chorus, and a whole selection of stringed instruments Taako couldn’t name follow up. A tear springs to his eye as he watches Kravitz, his face fixed in a mask of concentration, playing a part in this gorgeous music... 

He wipes the tear away. Gods, that was off-brand. He looks across at Lup to check she hasn’t noticed, but she’s clutching at Barry’s hand and looking pretty tearful herself. Of course. 

The music swings, crescendos, and finally ebbs away. 

Barry and Lup jump apart, both staring forward at the stage, matching blushes on their cheeks, both holding their own hands in their laps. Taako fights the urge to slap them both silly, and instead joins the standing ovation in clapping. He shoots a wink at Kravitz, but the orchestra is already moving into position for the next song, and he’s already staring intently at his sheet music. 

This time, the piano starts up first, and the audience sits back down as the song starts to swing. 

Kravitz laughs as Taako practically tackles him, flinging his arms around his waist and kissing him soundly. “You were so dope,” he says. “That was amazing.” 

“He was, like, a little teary,” Lup says. “Look, his makeup is all smudged -” 

“Fuck you! You were crying too!” Taako shouts. “It was emotional!” 

Barry and Kravitz make eye contact, sharing a long-suffering glance. “Well, I’m, uh, glad you both enjoyed it?” Kravitz hazards. 

“It was pretty good,” Lup concedes. “Not quite as good as me and Barry’s duet -” 

Barry chuckles. “It was definitely better. Taako didn’t cry at our duet.” 

Lup cocks her head. “You know, that's a good point. Ko, why didn’t you cry when your gorgeous sister and best friend played an emotionally charged duet?” 

He shrugs. “Guess it just wasn’t that good. And best friend? Who? Have you been playing duets behind Barold’s back with someone else?” 

Barry and Lup roll their eyes simultaneously. Kravitz just chuckles, clearly already understanding the banter between the trio. 

Actually, Kravitz is holding up pretty well. Taako’s had dates before with guys who’ve been intimidated by he and Lup’s whole _thing._ Some people just aren’t into being threatened by their date’s identical twin. There’s no accounting for taste. 

“Well, I’m glad you all enjoyed it. Tell a friend?” Kravitz suggests. “The more people attend the more funding we get as a group, so. It’s really important for us.” 

“Oh, shit, you should’ve said,” Taako says. “I’d have brought Lucy and Mags along.” 

“Speaking of Lucy and Mags,” Lup interjects. “We were all headed to the beach at the weekend. You down, Krav? It’s, uh, gonna be pretty wild, I’d guess. But you’re hardly a stranger to wild parties, huh?” 

“You’re never going to let me live that down, are you,” Kravitz deadpans. “But yes, I’d love to come, if you’ll have me.” He directs that last bit to Taako, who nods. 

“Yeah, a’course, m’dude, I was gonna invite you myself. If you think I’m gonna miss a chance to see you in a swimming costume -” 

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Barry says. “He probably wears, like, one of those old-fashioned bathing suits. The full-body ones, with the stripes?” 

“Nuh uh,” Lup says, shaking her head. “There’re photos on his Facebook of him in shorts. Taako was practically drooling -” 

Taako slugs her in the arm, and she scowls at him. Kravitz just laughs. “I promise I wear normal swimming costumes. Where do you guys think I shop? I don’t even know where I’d get one of those.” 

“Could be an heirloom,” Lup says. “Or Fantasy eBay. You can get anything on there.” 

“Not body parts,” Barry says, mildly. He blinks in surprise at the horrified stares he gets from Taako and Kravitz. “I don’t know from experience! I – it's an area of interest!" 

“Barold, you’re digging yourself a hole here,” Taako interjects. He looks around at the others. “Can we agree that we won’t question why Barry knows that and move on?” 

Lup looks like she’s still kind of interested, but Kravitz’s determined nodding quells any debate. “Please don’t talk about necromancy in front of me,” he says. “I’m a follower of the Raven Queen, I’m probably legally obliged to arrest you or something.” 

Barry goes a bit pale, but Lup just laughs. “Ah, he’d have to go through me first, Barry. I’d like to see him play the kazoo well enough to beat my fire.” 

“The - you all have an obsession with kazoos, you know that? If I was going to do a magic duel, I’d choose one of the other dozen instruments I play.” 

Barry frowns. “I don’t know,” he says. “The kazoo is a pretty good duelling weapon. Portable, light. It’s plastic, so Lup can’t just incinerate it immediately.” 

“I can give it a go,” she grumbles. 

Kravitz thinks for a moment. “Maybe the kazoo _is_ the best option. But bards are showmen. It's all about looking good, that’s why so many of us use violins.” 

“And you _definitely_ look good,” Taako purrs. Lup makes gagging noises again, putting her arm around Barry. 

“C’mon, Bear, let’s get out of here before this flirting gets too intense.” Barry laughs and nods a goodnight to Taako and Kravitz, before the pair head out the door, leaving Taako and Kravitz sat in the rapidly-emptying auditorium. 

Neither of them says anything for a moment. Kravitz hefts his violin case onto the now-empty seat Barry had been sat in, and Taako tries not to look like anything’s weighing on him. 

“Hey, Krav,” he says, trying to keep his tone light and airy, “cha’boy’s been thinkin’. And I just wanted to, uh, make sure we’re on the same page?” 

He tries not to wince at the way he’s stammering. Taako is _confident_ and _assured._ He _doesn’t_ panic about asking his maybe-boyfriend what they are. 

_C’mon,_ he tells himself. _You’ve seen him naked,_ _Taako_ _. Get it together._ The patented _visualise him naked_ technique backfires, though, because all it serves to do is remind Taako of how hot Kravitz is. 

Kravitz cocks his head, looking somewhat confused. “What do you mean?” 

“Well, okay, like.” Taako stops himself before he can stall any further, and says, “we never outright said what we are, y’know? Like, we’ve done a lotta kissing, and we fucked a _bunch,_ but, uh – are we boyfriends? Would you be cool with that?” 

Kravitz exhales, a smile forming on his lips. “Is that what you want?” 

Taako leans back, crossing his arms with a scowl. “I asked first.” 

“Yes,” Kravitz says, dropping the coy act. “I - I’d like that very much, Taako.” 

“Dope,” Taako says, his aloof act back. He’s done with being vulnerable, _thank you._ “Wanna kiss about it?” 

Kravitz breathes a laugh and leans in for a kiss, which Taako eagerly returns. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taako use your words challenge  
> Also. More bards should use kazoos because they're easy to maintain, durable, and light. I'm actually onto something with this and no one can convince me otherwise.  
> Uhhh what's happened to me this week? The UK is heading back into lockdown, which is great. The US election continues to be nerve-wracking as fuck. I've got deadlines coming up, too...   
> Anyways. This chapter was a super fun one! I like to think that Taako and Lup are much more similar than either of them are willing to admit in relationship terms!! Taako's got the Lup Instinct telling him that Kravitz isn't really into him, but Lup's got the Taako Instinct that means once she and Barry are actually together they speedrun the fuck out of the relationship into domestic bliss in, like, a week!  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter <3 the next few are SUPER fun and I'm so excited to get into them. There's one chapter specifically that I really considered shuffling around my plans for so I could post it sooner but I have to stay strong..... Thank you for reading!!


	11. Chapter 11

“Ko, they’re here, get your shit together, fuck!” Lup calls. 

“Fuck _you!”_ Taako calls back. “Where are the beach towels?” 

“Down here, goofus! I told you I’d grab them -” 

“What about the sunscreen?” 

“Yeah, I got that too!” She shouts back. “Now can you _hurry up?”_

Taako finally appears, dressed in swimming shorts and a loose t-shirt. “You got the -” 

“Taako, I’ve got everything. No thanks to you.” 

“I was doing my makeup,” he says, absolutely unapologetic. 

“I had to do mine, too,” she reminds him. “I’m just better at multitasking than you are.” 

“Whatever,” he shrugs, levitating the bag they’ve packed out the door. Lucretia’s car is parked at the end of their driveway, with Barry and Magnus already inside. Barry shoots her a wave and a grin from the back seat, and she smiles back. The sun’s just poking over the horizon, but she can already tell – it's gonna be a good day. 

“Hi, guys,” Lucretia says, as they clamber into the backseat, shoving their bag in the back. Lup takes the middle seat, next to Barry – entirely by coincidence, she tells herself, she _hadn’t_ pushed in front of Taako to claim her place, that’s _slander._ She’d send her fantasy lawyers after anyone who claimed that, if she weren’t busy cuddling up a little closer than strictly necessary with Barry. 

“Hey, Lucy!” Lup grins. “How’d your presentation go?” 

“Nuh uh!” Magnus turns in his seat like a dad remonstrating with his kids in the back, placing his hand on the back of Lucretia’s headrest. “Rule one of the road trip is no school talk. C’mon, Lup, don’t make me turn this car around.” 

She mimes zipping her mouth shut, but Lucretia says, “we’ve not even left the drive yet, Magnus. It went well, thank you, Lup. Yourself?” 

Lup indicates her zipped-up mouth and shrugs. Barry rolls his eyes with a grin. “Yeah, pretty good,” he says. “She wouldn’t give us our grades right away, but she told us it was one of the best she’d seen.” 

“She sounded surprised, though,” Lup says, after unzipping her mouth again. “Like, because I’m late to every lesson doesn’t mean I’m dumb. I just can’t read a clock.” 

Magnus laughs like a drain. “Yeah, I get that every time I hand in an assignment. Because I’m big and can’t do fancy pants magic, everyone thinks I’m stupid.” 

“You aren’t?” Taako says. Magnus scowls into the rearview, but Taako just laughs. Lucretia shakes her head and starts the car, pulling off the drive. 

“Okay, now we’re underway, no more school talk,” Magnus says, firmly. “Lup, what snacks did you guys bring?” 

“Who said we bought any, big guy?” 

He pouts. “You always bring snacks.” 

Lup reaches into the bag and pulls out a sandwich wrapped in foil. “Here. Don’t eat it all now, this is all you’re getting -” 

Before she can even finish, Magnus has opened the foil and tucked in, devouring half the sandwich in seconds. He gives her a guilty look and shrugs. 

She gives an exasperated sigh and pulls out the other sandwiches, distributing them among the others in the backseat. “Lucy, you can get yours when we get there? Or Mags can feed it to you while you drive, whichever works.” 

She nods, concentrating on the road. There’s a reason she’s designated driver – their bullshit doesn’t faze her at all. “I’ll wait til we arrive, thanks.” She makes a turn, pulling into a narrow, dead-end road. “Taako, is this right? Fantasy Google Maps wouldn’t accept Kravitz's address.” 

Taako peers out of the window. “Uh, yeah, up here on the left. I’ll go grab him.” He’s opened the door and disappeared up Kravitz’s drive before the car’s even come to a complete stop at the side of the road. 

“Okay, quick, while he’s gone, we’re all in agreement that we’re gonna make fun of him for his obvious crush, right?” Lup asks, a devious smile on her face. “They’re, like, so gross about it. You guys won’t believe it until you see – look, see, he’s making out with the dude right there on the doorstep!” 

Everyone in the car turns to look, and, sure enough, Taako is shamelessly kissing Kravitz right in front of all of them. As they finally split apart, Kravitz seems to notice the car full of people craning their necks to stare. Magnus waves, and Lup grins. Kravitz just covers his face embarrassedly. Taako flips them off, looping his other hand into Kravitz’s. 

Magnus turns back to fiddle with the dials and the radio kicks on, playing his playlist – ironically enough, the Beach Boys. Taako slides in, pushing Lup over and pressing her shoulder-to-shoulder with Barry so Kravitz can fit in the back. “Bit of a squeeze, huh?” he says, with a grin directed at Kravitz. “Guess we’ll just have to cuddle up.” 

Lup makes gagging noises, but Taako’s too busy nestling into Kravitz to respond. Deprived of her fun, she turns back to Barry. “You okay? He wasn’t joking about it being a squeeze.” 

“Oh, yeah, no, I’m good,” he says, with an uneasy smile. “It’s better than riding in the trunk, right?” 

She chuckles. “I wouldn’t make you ride in the trunk. You could sit on my lap.” 

He flushes. “You’d be flat as a pancake by the time we got there,” he manages to stammer out. 

“Aw, Barold, no, c’mon, I’m a big girl. I could defo handle it,” she replies. “Have you _seen_ these guns?” She flexes at him, and his blush deepens. The words _“c’mon, feel,”_ die on her lips. Maybe a little too far, she decides. 

“I’d make Taako ride in the trunk before you,” she says, instead. “He’s the reason you had to wait outside our house for so long.” 

Taako stops mid-conversation with Kravitz to round on her. “Excuse me?” 

“I _said,_ I’d make you ride in the trunk for space,” she says. “Me and Barry aren’t gonna, Krav is new, Lucy’s driving, Mags is too big, that leaves just one option.” 

“Well, joke’s on you,” he replies. “I know exactly what to do. Fantasy John Mulaney prepared me for this exact moment.” 

“Oh, fuck, you’re right. Street smarts!” She says, receiving a blank gaze from Kravitz. “Fuck, seriously? You’ve never seen Kid Gorgeous? You gotta punch the tail light out and wave at traffic, and they’ll call the cops.” 

Kravitz’s confusion doesn’t seem to clear, but Taako says, “you’ve heard of John Mulaney? No? Okay, hold on, I gotta explain -” and so Lup turns away as he tries to convey JJ Bittenbinder’s teachings on secondary locations and money clips. 

“Does he not know _any_ pop culture?” Barry asks. “I heard him asking Taako about the free real estate meme. I thought everyone knew that one.” 

She shakes her head. “No. Obviously not. I’ve got no idea what him and Taako talk about. Like, a solid eighty per cent of our conversations are about memes.” 

“I - not eighty per cent. That makes us sound like real nerds,” he says. Lup shrugs. 

“If the shoe fits, I guess.” 

He chuckles and opens his mouth to reply, but at that moment Lucretia hits a pothole and the car bounces, throwing them all off-balance. Lup’s caught so off-guard that she’s sent flying, and sprawls face-first into Barry’s lap. For a second, she lies there, sprawled over his legs, before she jumps upright, her cheeks burning. “Sorry!” Lucretia calls, cheerfully, from the driver’s seat. 

Lup mumbles her own apology, but Barry shakes his head. “’s fine. Not your fault,” he says, his cheeks as red as her own. 

She looks away, and it’s a few minutes before they find their conversational groove again. 

Lucretia pulls over into the car park, and Taako immediately throws the door open and jumps off Kravitz’s lap, where he’d spent the last fifty minutes of the journey. 

“Fuck, finally!” He shouts, his arms held wide as if to embrace the fresh air. “I forgot Lucy drives like a nonagenarian, or I would’ve driven myself.” 

“I drive at the speed limit, Taako,” she says, mildly. “And you don’t even have a license.” 

Taako merely scoffs at her, helping Kravitz out of the car and then rushing round to the trunk. “Krav, we’re going surfing, like, right now. C’mon, if we’re quick no one can make us carry the bags -” 

“Hey!” Lup calls as Taako grabs his surfboard, thrusting it at Kravitz. “At least carry your own shit, dingus! Don’t test me, I swear to the gods I’ll leave your towel on the ground.” 

He scowls at her and mumbles under his breath, but accedes, and takes the bag from her before scampering away down the beach, Kravitz in tow. Lup starts handing out the remaining bags, and Magnus claims the lion’s share, loading up with a mountain of bags under each arm before he runs down the beach after Taako like a kid on Christmas morning, leaving Lup, Barry, and Lucretia alone at the car. 

“Children,” Lucretia mumbles, shaking her head. Lup and Barry crack up at her deadpan delivery as she grabs her own bag and heads off. 

Lup hefts her bags experimentally. “You okay with those?” She asks. Barry nods. 

“All good here,” he says, with a smile. 

They stroll down the beach, heading towards where Lucretia’s sat with the bags the others dumped in a pile. Taako’s already waist-deep in the water, Kravitz stood next to him. As they watch, Magnus’ head breaches the surface and he splashes them both before ducking back under again. 

Lup throws down her own bags in the sand, grinning at her friends’ antics, and pulls her t-shirt over her head to reveal the swimming costume underneath. She stretches, enjoying the freedom and the sunshine after the long, cramped journey. 

She opens her eyes just in time to catch Barry’s head snap away, an enormous blush forming on his cheeks as he stares at Taako and Kravitz splashing about. 

Had he been – was Barry checking her out? 

No. No, that’s not possible. Barry – they’re friends! And, like, maybe friends sometimes watch as friends take their shirts off. Maybe? Suddenly she’s kind of having a hard time remembering what friends do, or thinking about anything at all, because _Barry_ _Bluejeans_ _was maybe checking her out._

Okay, to be fair, she’s objectively hot. Like, own it, she worked hard on this bod, and she _knows_ she looks good. It doesn’t mean anything that he was looking. It doesn’t mean what she wants it to mean. She’s not getting her hopes up. Not again. She does this every time – she reads too far into it, and then gets disappointed when he doesn’t pick up on her hints. 

So, she just kicks her shorts off (pointedly keeping her eyes off Barry as he pulls his own shirt over his head) and pulls the sunscreen from the bag, squirting a handful into her hand and applying it to her arms. Barry resolutely keeps looking away, that blush not fading from his cheeks. “What’s the plan, Bear? Wanna go swimming?” She asks, trying to distract herself from her thoughts. 

“Uh, sure,” he says, still not looking back at her. “Lucy, you coming?” 

“Nah,” Lucretia says. She’s already nose-deep in a book, lying on a beach towel and looking very relaxed in the sun. “I’m good here. Maybe later.” 

“Oh, uh, okay,” Barry says, fiddling nervously with the hem of his shorts. Not that Lup’s _looking_ at the hem of his shorts. 

“Hey, Bear,” Lup says, finishing up with the lotion on her legs. “Can you do my back?” She holds out the sunscreen, and he licks his lips. 

“Sure,” he says, taking the bottle. She turns away and pulls down her swimsuit’s strap to expose her shoulders, craning her head forward to expose more of her neck. A few beats pass, and she starts to wonder what Barry’s doing, when he tentatively places his hand on her back. 

He’s gentle, as if he’s scared she’ll break or pull away at any moment. Regardless, she finds herself revelling in the contact as Barry gives her something akin to a massage. She closes her eyes and leans into it, practically melting under his touch. 

All too soon, he’s finished, and she reluctantly pulls her swimsuit back up, the elastic straps twanging against her skin. “Need me to do your lotion?” She offers, trying to keep the excitement she feels at the idea of getting her hands on him out of her voice. 

He chuckles. “Nah, I did mine before we left. Thanks, though.” 

“Okay, dope,” she says, disappointed. “Let’s go swimming.” 

She stands up, brushing sand off her ass, and offers him a hand, which he accepts with a smile. And, sure, maybe they both hold on a little longer than _strictly_ necessary, but she’s sure that’s normal, too. 

If anything, she’s less touchy-feely with Barry than her other friends. She and Taako are practically inseparable, but she’s also huggy with Mags and Lucy. But Barry’s always been reluctant, and she’s always respected that. Plus, it’s always kind of been easier to maintain the emotional distance when there’s a physical distance, too. 

So it’s not really weird that they’ve been more touchy than usual, lately. She should probably be happy that Barry’s opening up to her. But, of course, that only further suggests that she shouldn’t push it. If he finally trusts her, does she really want to set to set the clock back by telling him she’s been lusting after him for nearly five years? No. 

Those thoughts are driven from her mind as her toes touch the freezing water. “Jesus,” she says. “I’ve practically lost sensation in my toes already.” 

Barry jumps backwards from the wave, not having got his own feet wet yet. “Really?” He asks. “Maybe I’ll wait ‘til the sun’s up a bit further, might heat the sea up a bit -” 

She pouts. “Aw, c’mon, babe, you said you’d go swimming with me.” His face is a mask of indecision, so she holds a hand out to him. “Please?” 

The reluctant grin that forms on his face is her favourite expression of his, she decides. He always gives her that smile before doing something they’ll laugh about later. 

But before she can really enjoy his smile, his feet touch the water and he gasps. “Gods, it really is cold,” he exclaims. 

“Told you,” she grins, her own feet having gotten used to it. “C’mon, best way to get used to it is to submerge yourself, let’s go.” 

He takes her outstretched hand. “I think that can give you a heart attack,” he says. “Plunging into cold water -” 

She shushes him with a finger on his lips. “Live a little, Barold,” she says, before realising how wide his eyes are at that. Oh, yeah, Barry likes his personal space. She pulls her hand away, dropping it at her side. 

“Okay,” he says, that smile splitting his face again before she can apologise. “Let’s do it. Before I change my mind.” 

They line up, still holding hands, and Lup counts down. “Three. Two. One. Go!” 

They both dash into the water, Barry inhaling sharply and Lup hollering with every step that brings the water further up their bodies. “Christ,” he says, through chattering teeth. “How do you always talk me into these situations?” 

She grins, despite her goosebumps. “Ah, you love me.” 

They both have to jump to keep atop a wave as it rolls past. “Good surf today,” he says, changing the subject. “Bet Taako’ll be happy.” 

She rolls her eyes. “I don’t like the person Taako becomes at the beach. He starts saying things like _groovy_ or _totally tubular._ I hate it.” 

Barry laughs. “I thought it was funny!” 

Lup just shakes her head, craning her neck to spot her brother a few dozen feet deeper. He’s holding the board steady as Kravitz lies flat on the surface. “Ooh,” she says. “He’s teaching Krav. This’ll be fun. That man has a negative five to dex.” 

“You’re anticipating a lotta wipeouts?” Barry chuckles. 

“Ah, Taako won’t let him surf unless he thinks he’s ready for it,” Lup says. “They’ll probably just make out in the shallows or something. Gross.” 

Barry opens his mouth to reply just as a wave crashes over them. The sand shifts under Lup’s feet, and for the second time that day, she's sent sprawling into him. He catches her, though, his hands on her waist, a steadying influence on her. “You good?” He asks, a tender smile on his face. 

“Yeah,” she says. “Yeah, I’m good.” She doesn’t move from his arms, and he makes no move to force her. Instead, she puts her hands on his forearms. “You okay at this depth?” She knows he’s not the strongest of swimmers, but he’s come on leaps and bounds since he started learning with Taako. She just – she wants to see that he’s comfortable. That’s all. 

“Yeah,” he says, staring into her eyes. “I’m good.” 

Another wave rolls past. This time, they both brace for it, but Taako skims past, elegantly perched upon his board, whooping loudly as he goes. Barry steps back, pulling his arms from around her. She practically groans out loud. How many fucking times has Taako ruined a tender moment, now? 

Then Kravitz appears beside them. “Wow,” he says, looking lovestruck. “Taako’s - he’s so elegant. Did you see that?” 

Lup rolls her eyes. Maybe she’ll have to wait ‘til later for some alone time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I hope everyone's doing well! I have to make this quick because I'm late for class but tbh this fic is more important so...


	12. Chapter 12

“You need a towel, Lup?”

“Nah, good to drip-dry. It’s plenty warm,” she replies, checking out her prune-y fingers. “Thanks, though.”

“No problem,” Barry says, as he wraps his own towel around his chest. She tries not to feel disappointed that he’s covering up, but, well, c’mon. She was enjoying the show. Barry’s so self-conscious normally that she doesn’t get to see that cute bod a lot.

He starts to rub himself dry, and she tries not to watch as he pulls a shirt over his head and wraps the towel around his waist as a makeshift skirt to pull off his wet swimming shorts and replace them with a pair of dark denim jorts.

“Wanna go for a stroll? Down the beach?” She asks. “Think I saw an ice cream truck earlier, if you’re into that?”

“Fuck yeah, beach ice cream? The best kind,” he grins, pulling on his sandals. No socks, thankfully, which she  _ had  _ been concerned about. “Wanna get  Taako and Kravitz? Or Lucy? I bet  Mags’d be down for an ice cream, we could all go -”

She tries to hide her frown. “And have to watch my brother  macking on Kravitz? No thanks, Bear. Safer if it’s just you and me.”

He chuckles. “True, true. Okay, sure. Let’s go.”

They stroll down the beach. The sun is well overhead, now, and Lup’s sweltering, even just in her swimming costume.

“Wonder how much it’d cost to rent one of these,” Barry says, indicating the beach huts, painted in rainbow colours, that line the beach. “Too much for a student, huh?”

“Unless you’ve got a secret inheritance, probably,” she says. “It’d be worth it if they’ve got AC, though.”

“Gods, you’re so right. It’s like being in a fucking oven,” he says.

They walk in silence for a few more paces, before Lup remembers something. “So, Barry,” she begins, and he groans.

“Oh, I recognise that tone. What is it?”

“Nothing! Just wondering, uh. This is the beach you had your first kiss on, right?”

He sighs. “I wish I hadn’t told you that.”

“What! C’mon, I wasn’t  gonna make you tell me anything.”

“Yeah, you were,” he says, resigned.  “You want me to show you where Baby  Bluejeans had his first kiss?”

“You read my mind,” she grins.

He tacks leftward, heading towards the cliff face. “There’s, uh, a path around here somewhere. Leads up to the top of the cliff.  But, these beach huts weren’t here back then, so they might’ve closed it off.”

He starts poking through the undergrowth as Lup watches, and eventually finds the entrance to a narrow, overgrown trail, behind a row of beach huts.

“Ooh,” she says. “Very secluded. You could have a real make-out  sesh up here.”

She can’t see his face as he leads her up the path, but she can hear from his voice he’s blushing. “I - It was a peck on the lips, Lup. I was sixteen.”

“Just  sayin ’,” she mumbles. She’d kind of meant that  _ they  _ could have a real make-out  sesh , but... Well, it’s probably for the best he misinterpreted that one.

“Almost there,” he says, crashing through the undergrowth ahead of her. She follows in his wake, trying to keep her bare legs out of the nettles, wishing she’d thought to bring shoes, when they arrive in a small clearing, no bigger than a dozen square feet. A small park bench sits in the middle, now mostly overgrown with brambles and ivy, but with a picturesque, albeit overgrown, view down to the beach.

“Wow,” she says. “I can see what got Babyjeans’ date so in the mood. Very romantic.”

He flushes. “It used to be nicer – uh, less undergrowth. I guess people don’t come up here, any more.”

She drops herself down on the bench. He carefully sits next to her. Even though the bench is reasonably wide, they find themselves hip-to-hip as they both try to avoid the thorns creeping up the sides.

She licks her suddenly dry lips. She hadn’t been joking; this is clearly a romantic hotspot. If baby Lup had grown up here, she probably would’ve done her own share of making out on this very bench. And he’s pressed up against her. She’s suddenly reminded of the time they’d found themselves cuddling on his couch, and how certain she’d been, then, that he was into her.

“This is nice,” she murmurs. It’s shaded and cool, providing a nice respite from the heat of the beach, but what she’s really talking about is the closeness to him.

“Yeah,” he replies, in a whisper.

Her hands are so close to his legs. Should she place one on his thigh?

Honestly, knowing that Barry had had his first kiss here was only making the locale all the more romantic. And it’s driving her  _ nuts.  _ It’s not a good look, being jealous of a 16-year-old, but...

She wonders if he’s looking at her. She’s fixed her own gaze squarely forward, mostly in the hopes he won’t see the blush on her face. Without moving her head, she squints at him from the corner of her eyes. Is he – is he also watching her from the corners of his eye? Are they seriously just sitting here, like a couple of idiots, watching each other and not saying anything?

But what can she say? 

“Hey, Barry, I’m super into you, wanna kiss about it?” Might be a little on the nose. But, then, she’s tried subtlety before. And it’s never worked. Maybe she should just go for it. Really make it obvious, so he’s forced to give a binary, yes or no answer. Wouldn’t that be better? Even if he said no, wouldn’t that be better than not knowing? 

But then he shuffles away slightly. “You’re making my jorts all wet,” he mutters, and she looks down to see that her damp swimming costume has left a dark imprint on his shorts. 

Does that sound like an excuse? It does to Lup. She certainly wouldn’t let wet  jorts get in the way of cuddling. Maybe it’s better if...

If he’s into her, he’ll say something, eventually. And if he isn’t, he never has to know how she feels. So, maybe it’s better if she simply waits him out? Let him make the first move, Lup, she tells herself. Yeah.

So, instead, she stands and offers him a hand. “Ready for that ice cream, Bluejeans?”

He smiles. “Sounds good.” He takes her offered hand, heaving himself up, and they walk back down the path together.

Lup places her book beside her, face-down in the sand, and lies back, stretching out like a cat in sunbeam. The weather is beautiful, and she wants to bask in it for the maybe half-hour left before the sun goes down and she has to clamber back into a small car with her brother and his boyfriend.

She rolls over, laying on her front, propped up on her forearms so her back is exposed to the sun without her being face-down in the sand, and she finds herself face-to-face with Barry. He’s sat at her head, huddled under an umbrella so his porcelain-white skin doesn’t burn, nose in a book. Her eyes are obscured by sunglasses, so she takes a minute to watch him.

He flips the page, and brings a hand up to run his fingers through his hair. It’s gone all curly after the salt water exposure, and it’s kind of a good look on him. She tries to embed the image in her mind, placing it right alongside “late night Barry” in pyjamas with his slightly sticky-uppy hair, and “formalwear Barry” in his tux with his hair neatly combed. She’s got a whole catalogue of Barry Looks at this point, and it’d be nigh impossible to choose a favourite.

He looks up from the book, and she takes the opportunity to grin at him. “You good?”

“Oh, yeah,” he says. “Just, uh, reading. Nothing interesting, either, it’s more fuckin’ physics.”

She fake-retches. “You brought schoolwork with you to the beach? Barry.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Don’t tell Maggie, he’ll confiscate it.”

“I won’t,” she says. “If you take a break. You’ve been reading that for over an hour.”

He checks his watch and grins sheepishly. “Whoops.”

She chuckles at him. “Yeah, whoops.”

He sighs, looking over her head toward the sea. “It’s such a nice day. It sure won’t be fun to go back to class tomorrow.”

“Barry, come  _ on,”  _ she says, with a frown. “First a physics book, now you’re thinking about class? Live in the moment!”

He chuckles. “Yeah, okay, I guess that’s fair. You’re right.”

“You should come lie with me,” she says. “Get a tan. Or we can, I don’t know, build a sandcastle or something.”

He chuckles. “You actually want to? I’m down.”

“Fuck yeah, why not? Let’s make it a sand palace, Bear. I want this to be a home fit for a queen.”

“One castle fit for Empress Lup, coming right up,” he smiles, and starts burrowing into the sand with his hands. “Might be hard without a bucket and spade but I’m sure we can manage.”

She leans over and helps him dig. “Only a poor workman blames his tools, Bear. Or lack thereof.”

Finally, her hands hit wet sand, and he reaches past her to grab a clump and shape it into a ball, as if he’s handling clay, and he plops it down on the sand.

They both look at it. It crumbles a little bit under the weight of their gaze, a chunk falling off.

“Needs more work,” he says.

“Yeah, maybe some turrets will make it look better,” Lup agrees, grabbing her own handfuls. She rolls hers into cylinders, and attempts to mould them to the top of Barry’s amorphous blob-castle to form towers.

One slides sideways, only just remaining stuck on at all, but the other remains standing. She looks up at Barry and shrugs. “I consider that a win.”

“Yeah, it’s like the Tower of Pisa,” he says. “People will like it more because it’s not straight.”

Lup snorts. “Oh, yeah?”

He just rolls his eyes. “Alright, alright. You know what I meant.”

“I  gotta say, though,” she says. “I was picturing more like Cinderella’s castle than whatever this is.”

“We can fix it,” he says. “Look, I’ll draw some windows on.”

He uses his pinkie to etch some detailing into the sand – a tiny portcullis and some windows, comically out-of-proportion to the size of the building.

“Okay,” Lup says. “It’s perfect. Now we just need some way for Sir Barold of Blue Jeans to protect his queen.”

Barry chuckles, scooping out more sand and beginning to craft a lumpy, misshapen wall around their creation. Lup scoops out some sand to form a moat.

“I think the Queen of England is  gonna be jealous, Bear,” Lup says. “We can probably trade this for Buckingham Palace.”

“I think we’d be getting the short end of that  deal,” he grins.

She laughs and rolls back onto her front, tilting her head just enough that she can see him sat behind her. “It’s been such a good day,” she says, after a second. “I don’t want it to end.”

It’s his turn to chuckle. “Weren’t you just telling me to live in the moment?”

“Oh, shush,” she says. Their eyes meet. Her vision of him is upside-down, but his soft smile is still enough to make her heart melt.

“I don’t, either. Maybe we should come again,” he says. “Just the two of us. Leave these lunatics behind.” He indicates down the beach where Lucretia, Magnus and  Taako are playing keep-away with a beachball as Kravitz tries to grab it. As they watch, Kravitz wraps his arms around  Taako’s neck and jumps up onto his bag in a piggyback, and they both fall to the ground laughing.

“That sounds...”  _ Romantic?  _ “Nice. It sounds really nice.”

“Are you hungry?” He asks, before she can consider her next words. “I’m starving. We should grab  fries for everyone.”

“Oh, fuck yeah. Chunky chips? Let’s do it,” she says, hopping back up. “You saw a restaurant?”

He shrugs. “I lived ‘round here, remember?” A blush spreads across his cheeks. “And, well, you insisted on taking the Barry  Bluejeans Romance Tour up to the cliffs for my first kiss, maybe now I can show you where my first date was?”

Her eyes widen. “ Oh my gods, yes. Is it all, like, tacky décor? Or was Baby Barry a classy motherfucker?”

“Oh, it’s very tacky,” he says, climbing up out of the sand. “Good fries, though. We used to get them and eat them – oh, that’s another place I should show you. These rocks, up the top of the cliff, I’d watch the sunset.”

“Shit, let’s do that. Fuck buying fries for everyone else. I  wanna watch the sun set over the sea.”

He laughs. “Well, we’d better hurry, then. Not that much daylight left.”

She starts to take longer strides, grinning as Barry as to scurry alongside her with his shorter legs. “No fair,” he pants, already out of breath. And, as much fun as it is to tease, she slows down to let him catch up. It’s not something she’d do for just anyone. But Barry’s special.

He gets his breath back as they stroll slowly towards the restaurant, and Lup smiles to herself. Tacky exterior, big plastic sign, neon lights in the window, and a whiff of good cooking in the air. Clearly, young Barry had found a hidden gem. She’d be tempted to come back for something more than just fries, if it weren’t a good two hour drive from home. Maybe on the promised follow-up trip with just her and Barry...

She’s fantasising about the delicious possibilities as they arrive, and he holds the door open for her, bowing in a gentlemanly fashion to allow her to go first. She steps in and takes a look up at the menu. As she’d expected, a wide variety of small-town-restaurant fare, all homecooked. It’s the exact kind of restaurant she adores, and  _ of course  _ Barry knows that about her.

“You still just lookin’ for fries?” He says from beside her.

“Gods, I don’t know,” she replies. “Lots of options, huh? But yeah, let’s go with fries. Simple and easy to eat on the beach. You promised me sunset watching, after all.”

“That I did,” he says with a smile, and steps up to order. “Six fries, please, to go.” He turns back to her. “Take a seat, I guess.”

She does. He stays leaning on the counter. “So, Barry, how do you grow up on the beach and never learn to swim?”

“Oh, uh, I was too smart for my own good. My mum took me to the beach when I was five, meaning to teach me, and I took one look and said,  _ mummy, what about the riptides?” _

Lup snorts with laughter at his high-pitched impression. “So, you weren’t a natural born surfer, then?”

“No, are you serious? I wasn’t scared of sharks, cos they’re mostly friendly, but it’s the jellyfish you  gotta watch out for. Portuguese men  o’war ... I had nightmares. And, uh, giant squid. Less based in fact, sure, but scary.”

She raises an eyebrow. “So, what I’m hearing is a fear of tentacles? No hentai on the table for our Barold?”

“Don’t,” he shudders, and she laughs.

The cashier slides their fries over the table, and Barry grabs the paper bag and, with a nod of thanks, slides the money over the counter, and they head back out.

“So, Barold,” Lup says. “Sun’s gettin' low. Where’s this sunset-watching spot I was promised?”

“Alright, alright,” he chuckles. “You’re so impatient. This way.”

He leads her back toward the shore, taking only a slightly different route that leads them along the beachfront road. Instead of veering off down the beach, though, they walk past the spot where they parked the car and up the hillside. Eventually, Barry leads her off the road, and up to the very edge of the cliff, right at the top.

“Wow,” she breathes. She’d thought the spot he’d showed her earlier had been beautiful, but this was something else. It’s higher up, with a better view of the surrounding landscape. Small towns dot the coast for as far as the eye can see. As she watches, a tiny boat chugs along on the very edge of her vision. The sun is just beginning to dip below the horizon, and the sky is beginning to turn a candyfloss pink.

“Good, huh?” He says. “Knew this’d blow your socks off.”

“Wow,” she says again. “This is gorgeous.” She sits down and shuffles on her ass towards the edge, swinging her feet over the precipice. He sits next to her and passes her a paper bag of fries. She takes a handful, and hums in appreciation. He chuckles. “Told you they’re good.”

“You did,” she says. “I should never have doubted you.”

“You doubted me?” He replies, with a soft chuckle.

The sun creeps lower in the sky, and Lup places the bag in her lap. It’s uncomfortably warm, but it means she can eat with only one hand, which is imperative for the next stage of her plan. With her now free hand, she reaches out and grabs Barry’s.

He squeezes, and she squeezes back. Between the beautiful view, the good food, and Barry next to her? She can’t think of anywhere on the planet she’d rather be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I hope you enjoyed this chapter <3 I certainly enjoyed writing it! But dude next week's chapter... I'm so excited to put it out y'all it's my favourite one so far by a long shot.  
> Anyway! Please leave a comment, they all mean so much to me! Thank you for reading!


	13. Chapter 13

Between the two of them, it’s always been Taako who’s put more effort into his looks. Lup wouldn’t call him vain out loud, cos that’s her brother, but she’s _thought_ it a couple of times. She _knows_ she looks good in anything, so why go all-out except for special occasions? 

Is tonight a special occasion? Well, maybe. They’re going out to a club, but _Barry’s going to be there._

Lup’s plan for the last few weeks has been to let Barry come to her. That way, she never has to face the mortifying ordeal of confessing her attraction, and she still gets to date him! Win-win, right? Well, except that he’s stubbornly refusing to admit that he’s into her. 

So, new plan: make herself utterly irresistible. 

She’s already picked out her dress. It’s red, sequined, and cut at her mid-thigh with a slit up to her hip. She’s got heels, but with flats in her bag for when she inevitably rolls an ankle, and she’s done her hair up. She’d considered cutting it short, maybe an undercut, but in the end, she’d kept it long and got Taako to braid it into a half-up hairstyle that _looks_ low-effort but actually took somewhere in the region of an hour. Now, she’s doing the most intricate makeup she’s done in years. Probably since the last time she’d been out looking to catch some eyes, maybe all the way back in first year. 

If this doesn’t get her a kiss from Barry Bluejeans, nothing will. If she fails tonight, she might as well go join a nunnery, because her days of seduction are obviously over. 

She steps out into the living room and does a twirl. “Whatcha think, Ko?” 

He looks her up and down, nodding. “I think... that _whoever,”_ he winks, _“_ you’re dressing to impress is gonna get their socks knocked off.” 

“I’m not -” She starts to protest, before she deflates under his sharp look. “Okay, okay, fine. You think he’ll like it?” 

“Lulu, if he doesn’t, he needs his eyes checked. You look great.” 

She grins. “Damn right.” 

She’s waiting outside the club. Technically _,_ they’d arranged to meet inside, but... well, the lighting’s better out here. And she wants him to appreciate all the effort she put in before she inevitably ruins it by getting sweaty on the dancefloor. 

And _finally,_ he arrives. He's wearing his formal jeans (Lup kind of hates that she can tell) and a button-down shirt, unbuttoned just down to his sternum, but the flash of skin she can see there has her mouth dry. 

He spots her, and his eyes widen, his lips parting to form a slight O. She’s just close enough to him that she can see his eyes running up and down her body. She grins. Fuck yeah, she looks good, Barry, drink it in. He keeps staring as he comes down the stairs towards the club’s entrance, and she’s never felt so good about herself. She _knows_ she looks good, but Barry clearly thinks so, too, and - 

And then he stumbles on the last stair and only barely catches himself by the handrail. She steps in, hands raised to catch him. “Fuck, Bear, you okay?” 

He’s blushing a red that matches her dress, and he won’t meet her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, sorry,” he mumbles. “You, uh, look good. Love the dress.” 

She’s practically glowing under his compliments. “Thank you! I see you busted out the good jeans.” 

“Yeah, figured everyone else’d be dressing up,” he chuckles, recovering from the embarrassment of his fall. “Combed my hair, too. Not quite as much effort as you’ve put in, clearly -” 

“No, no, you look good!” She protests. “I like it.” His blush comes back anew, and he mumbles something she doesn’t catch, so she just grabs his hand. “C’mon. Let’s go in.” 

They step through the door and into the club, immediately being blasted by the wave of sound. Currently, Fantasy Toto’s _Africa_ is playing, and she nods. Clearly the DJ is a man of taste. “C’mon!” She yells over the music. “Taako’s getting drinks! We can meet him at the bar!” 

Lup is lethal at moving through crowds, using elbows and shoulders to force her way through, and so Barry wisely stays behind her, allowing himself to be dragged along, and eventually they arrive. Taako’s holding four drinks – one pink, one red, one blue and one yellow. 

“Take one!” He shouts. “It’s roulette!” 

Barry chuckles and grabs the blue. Lup takes the red. With a glance at each other, they both down their glasses. Both of them immediately screw up their faces, Barry dissolving into a coughing fit – whatever was in the drink was _strong._

“Christ,” she shouts. “Taako, what the fuck was in that?” 

“You don’t want to know! Just enjoy it!” Her brother yells, and downs both of the remaining drinks one after the other. 

She turns to the bar and waves down the bartender. “Another of those!” She shouts. “Actually, make it two!” 

Neither of them is quite drunk _,_ but they’re both tipsy enough that they’re giggly and excitable, their inhibitions lowered. And, well, Lup doesn’t have a problem with that, because they’re dancing a lot closer than they usually would. Close enough that she can smell his deodorant, that she could easily lean in for a kiss, that - 

_Okay, Lup, c’mon,_ the sober part of her brain tells her. _Cut that shit out._

So, she just enjoys the dance. It’s Mr. Brightside, after all, and you only get one banger like that an evening. Barry seems to know all the lyrics to all the songs, so he’s singing along, which puts a smile on her face even though she can barely hear it. 

Actually, that gives her an idea... 

“Bear!” She yells. “We should get Lucy and Mags and Taako and go rent a karaoke room!” 

He says something, but it’s lost in the song. He repeats himself, just as the main chorus kicks in, and she indicates her ear once again. Instead, he just nods, and so she grabs him by the hand again, pulling him towards the padded, soundproof doors arranged along one wall. She looks across at all the handles, finally finding one with the LEDS lit up green for go, and opens the door, shoving Barry in. 

There’s a big screen on one wall, that, when the song starts, would display the lyrics as well as some background animations. There's a smaller podium in front of it that shows the same display, so the singer doesn’t have to face the wall, and two couches, each wide enough for two people. Realistically, it’s gonna be a squeeze to get all six of them in, but they’ll probably be fine. 

As the door closes behind her, it’s like entering another dimension. The silence feels suffocating in her ears compared to the vibrant party scene outside. “Okay, you stay here to keep our room and I’ll find the others?” She asks. “Wait - wait, I’ll send a message. With, with magic. Fuck going to get them all individually.” 

She’s aware she’s slurring her words a little, and she winces. Fuck. Maybe she’s more drunk than she thought. 

“Want another drink?” Barry asks, and she scowls. She’d forgotten that drunk-Barry always wanted more. 

“Just - one. Or you’ll pass out in the middle of the YMCA again. And I’m not carrying you home.” 

“You know magic, just levitate me.” He laughs, and checks the menu. Scanning a QR code with your phone allows you to get your drinks delivered to your room, which saves either of them having to cross the dancefloor again. 

“I’ll have... one of those pink things. With the umbrella.” She says, already scanning the list of songs available. Would Barry do a duet with her? She scrolls down, checking them off mentally in her head. Romance song, romance song, romance song, she doesn’t recognise that one, but it looks pretty suggestive, romance song... 

Maybe she should bite the bullet. Ask him to do a love ballad with her. Give him one of the strongest hints yet that, _hey, Barold, I’d actually quite like to jump those bones._

She settles on something screamy. Not her usual fare, normally she’s down for something with a bit more of a tune, but screaming her lungs out might make her feel better. It’ll certainly burn off some of her excess energy. 

She hits the button and stands up in front of the screen, humming along to the intro. Barry leans back and watches as she starts to work her joints, ready to dance along. She gives him her best seductive wink as the song starts. 

She sings, shouts, and screams along, moving her body to the beat, giving an experimental hip-grind to the music, which, she’s satisfied to note, puts a blush back on Barry’s face. Unfortunately, before she can capitalise on that, the back door to their room opens, and a waiter arrives with their drinks. He sets them down on the side table, but she doesn’t let the interruption stop her as she wiggles, jives and kicks her way through the song. As it finally winds down, her voice is aching, but her heart is racing and there’s a huge grin on her face. 

“Fuck yeah,” she grins as Barry puts his drink down to applaud. She throws herself down on the couch next to him, leaning across him to retrieve her own drink from the table. Which is, admittedly, a generous way of describing what she does. More accurately, she lies in his lap while she takes a sip, only getting up when she’s drained the glass. She feels him go stiff as a board beneath her, all his muscles tense, clearly not sure what to do, and she starts to feel a little guilty, so she jumps back upright. 

“Okay,” she says, settling back. “Your turn. Before Lucy and the others arrive.” 

He smiles, still a little nervous. “Uh, okay, sure.” He walks up to podium and scrolls for almost a full minute. She’s just about to start heckling when he makes his selection and stands back, waiting for the music to start. 

As soon as the beat starts, she recognises it. _Of course._

_“Young man!”_ Barry sings. “ _There’s no need to feel down! I said, young man! Pick yourself off the ground, I said, young man! Cos you’re in a new town, there’s no need! To! Be! Unhappy!”_

She can only laugh as he sings along. He’s clearly uncomfortable performing, his voice breaking a little, and he’s only dancing reluctantly, but it’s the cutest thing she’s ever seen. 

_“It’s fun to stay at the! Y! M! C! A!”_ He sings, and they both do the arm motions to go along with it. 

As the song goes on, he loosens up, moving his body along to the music. She giggles, and he laughs, too. All too quickly, it’s over, and she’s almost sad about it ‘til he flops back down next to her, his hips pressed against hers on the narrow couch. 

“Your turn again, Loopy,” he says, and – that's new. She’s never really liked nicknames – Taako only barely gets away with _Lulu -_ but she kinda likes it, coming from Barry. Okay, hell, who’s she kidding, she likes it a lot. 

She doesn’t really want to get up. Doesn’t want to do another song. She just wants to stay here, cuddling on the couch with her Bear. “Wanna get drinks, first?” She says, to buy time. 

He huffs a laugh. “You know me too well.” 

He whips his phone out, scanning the code to order another round, and in the meantime she places her head on his shoulder. Yeah, no big. Just some casual contact with Barry. 

Gods, she’s really drunk. This’d be the biggest fucking deal imaginable if she were sober. 

The same waiter as before comes in, scooping up their used glasses and leaving new ones behind. He barely even looks at them, clearly having seen a lot of horny twenty-somethings (or eighty-somethings, in Lup’s case, but it’s pretty much equivalent in human years) macking on each other in these rooms. 

“What happened to Taako?” Barry asks, looking around the room as if he’s only just realised the others never materialised. 

“Oh,” Lup says. “Yeah. I was gonna send them a message. Whoops.” They both laugh, raucously. 

She passes his drink over and takes a sip from her own as she casts the spell. _Taako,_ she sends, _we’ve got a karaoke room. Grab the others and get over here._ “Bear, we should do a duet. Before they arrive.” 

He shrugs, careful not to dislodge her head from his shoulder. “Sure. Any ideas?” 

She scrolls through the list, trying to find one that’s not openly romantic. Okay, sure, they’re maybe cuddling a little, but that doesn’t mean she wants to spill all her feelings, even if it is to a jazzy beat. And the others will be here soon, too. She doesn’t want those assholes busting in on them. She scrolls, and scrolls, and scrolls, and eventually hits on one. Grease! It’s, like, a little romantic, but everyone sings along to _you’re the one that I want,_ right? 

She jumps up, offering a hand for Barry to take, and pulls him over to the podium. She places one hand flat on his chest, and, before he can query it, casts a small transmutation spell, transforming his button-down shirt into a leather jacket, pointedly not looking at the space where the open jacket leaves his chest clearly visible. She holds her hand up, and her hair puffs out (Taako’ll kill her for ruining all his hard work on her hair, when he eventually gets here) and curls, forming bouncy coils like Fantasy Olivia Newton-John's from the movie. 

He grins as he realises what she’s aiming for, and sings the opening bar. _“I got chills... they’re multiplyin’ -”_

She dances to the music as he continues to sing, only a few inches away from him, and he eventually starts to move, too. 

Her line comes in, highlighted in pink on the monitor. _“You’d better shape up!”_ She sings. _“_ _Cos_ _I need a man! And my heart is – set on you!”_

She misses a beat, there, and for a second she’s out of time. Okay, maybe this song is more applicable to them than she’d remembered. 

_“You’re the one that I want! You are the one I want! Ooh, ooh, ooh, honey!”_ They sing together, and Lup leans in so she’s just centimetres from him, still dancing. 

The song continues. Barry slicks his hair back as John Travolta would. Lup curls her finger in the “come-hither” motion as Olivia Newton-John does (and she’s satisfied to note the flush of exertion on Barry’s cheeks only deepens.) Finally, she slings her arms over his shoulders, and he places his hands on her hips, and they sing the final lines of the song as they jive to the music together. 

_“You’re the one that I want! You are the one I want! Ooh, ooh, ooh, the one I need, oh yes indeed!”_

The reverberating _ooh-ooh-oo_ s fade out, and they both pant for breath for a moment. They're stood, practically nose-to-nose, grinning at each other, and, in the heat of the moment, Lup’s not even sure who initiates the kiss.

For a second, she’s stunned by the feeling of Barry’s lips against hers, and she can’t reciprocate, but she quickly comes to her senses. This is everything she’s wanted for _years,_ and she’ll be damned if she doesn’t make it memorable. She parts her lips, and the kiss quickly devolves into a makeout session as his tongue slips into her mouth. 

He’s... _everything._ The world around her fades to greyscale, then black, and she’s in a void, just her and Barry. She feels utterly boneless in his arms, like she’s melting, putty in his hands. 

The next thing she knows, he’s falling backwards, heavily, onto the couch, and she’s climbing astride his lap. And, sure, this is a public place, and they’re drunk, so this can’t go where she _absolutely_ wants it to go, but she can enjoy it nonetheless, right? 

So she presses her lips to his again, starving, ravenous, famished, a hunger that’s been building for four years and has only grown with every fervent wish for more, every subtle hint gone ignored, every raunchy dream she’s awoken from, devastated at facing reality. She places a hand on his chest – and, yeah, he’s not wearing a shirt any more, because she’d transmuted it into a leather jacket, so she’s touching bare flesh. Her other hand curls in his hair, and he groans into her mouth, his own hands, one on her back, one on her hip, pressing her ever closer into him. It’s dizzying. She’s got vertigo. She’s only on his lap but it feels like she’s thousands of feet up, the ground nothing but a distant dream down below. 

Finally, she needs a breath, and she pulls backwards. Her lips feel swollen, and she’s panting, and Barry’s hair is mussed up and there’s an enormous blush on his cheeks, but a disbelieving, joyous grin splits his face. Has he always had those freckles? She wonders. And the tiny marks on his nose where his glasses are slightly too tight? Has his jaw always been so kissable? Mmm, and his neck, and that exposed chest - 

“Fuck, Lup,” he says. “I -” 

But, she’s got her breath back, now, and so she just leans back in again. “Less words,” she growls, and then her lips are pressed into his again and that blissful nothingness swoops back in - 

Until the door slams open. 

Taako walks in first, mid-laugh, and stops dead, his eyebrows shooting up so high they practically disappear into his hairline, his mouth dropping open to form a perfect O. Before anyone else can enter, Lup throws herself backwards off him, and Barry rolls sideways, so that by the time Lucretia follows Taako into the room, the moment is well and truly dead. 

“Woah, Barry, were you wearing that jacket earlier?” Magnus gasps. “That’s cool as fuck!” 

Taako’s expression doesn’t change as he looks at Barry’s exposed chest and back at Lup. He blinks, once, and finally closes his mouth, forming a shit-eating grin instead. Lup scowls at him, pointedly sitting on the other couch from Barry and not even looking over at him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OwO
> 
> @everyone who demanded kisses already: I hope you're happy!! Also, I did steal the nickname Loopy from dawn of the dad, but it's gonnna be in every fic I write from now on bc it's _so_ cute and no one can stop me!!!  
> This chapter was one I was super excited for so please leave a comment if you enjoyed!!


	14. Chapter 14

Lup’s eyes flutter open, and immediately snap  shut against the light filtering through her curtains.  _ Fuck,  _ that’s bright. Her head pounds, like there’s an angry woodpecker inside, desperate to get out. Gods, who hit her with a sledgehammer last night?

Squinting, she crawls out of bed and shuffles to the faucet, fumbling around for a glass before giving up and just dunking her head. The cold water feels  _ so nice,  _ and it’s got the added benefit of making her mouth not taste like ash  any more , so that’s always good.

Gods, last night must’ve been a real  rager . It’s hard to even begin to remember what happened – wait, holy shit. Did she make out with someone? She pulls her collar down to inspect her neck. No hickeys. Hmm. Well, at least it’s her own bed she’s woken up in. T he dress she’d worn is crumpled on the floor, so at least she didn’t walk home in the nude, or anything. She hopes. Why is her hair all curly? She looks like she’s straight  outta the 80’s.

Waking up and having to try to decipher last night’s actions is starting to become a habit. It’s  _ much  _ too early for this detective work. She walks back to the bed, supporting herself with the wall, and tucks herself back in, pulling the blanket up to her neck and shutting her eyes.

Had she really kissed someone? She wonders, idly, as she drifts back to sleep. It’d be nice to break her dry spell. Although, it’s still hard to imagine enjoying a kiss with someone else when she’s so head over heels with -

Oh,  _ fuck _ .

Gods, how had she forgotten – after all this time? She’d had her first kiss with Barry J Sildar  Hallwinter Bluejeans and  _ forgotten about it?  _

She’s suddenly wide awake, her mouth dry, her palms sweaty. What if – what if he regrets it? It’d happened while they were drunk, his inhibitions lowered. What if the first thing he says is  _ “Lup, this can’t happen again?”  _ Would he even notice her heart shattering into a million pieces?

On the other hand.

She’s been waiting all this time for him to confess, and last night was a  _ hell  _ of a confession. He’d kissed her like that... Like she was the last girl on earth, like she was everything, like he was going to die and her lips were the life support. And she’d kissed him back with equal  fervour , passion, need.

There’s a warmth in her stomach like she’s chugged a pint of coffee. She can feel a blush forming on her cheeks as she replays the glorious moment in her mind. The feeling of his lips on hers, his arms around her waist, her hand balled in his hair, on his bare chest -

Maybe, just maybe, this could be a turning point. Maybe that kind of kiss could happen again. Maybe she could have more. She feels weak at the thought; the very idea of another kiss like that giving her butterflies.

Who’d have thought Barry  Bluejeans would be such a good kisser he’d make Lup  Taaco blush?

Should she send him a text? Or ring him? It’d be nice to wish him a good morning, hear his voice... It’d be nicer to have him wake her with a kiss, his stubble tickling her neck, feel his breath in her ear as he whispers a good morning to her... And that suddenly seems like a shining possibility.

But no. She won’t text him. She’s going to see him in – she checks her phone – forty minutes anyway. There’s no rush.  _ Don’t look desperate, Lup,  _ she says to herself, although she’d been pretty damn desperate last night.

She rolls back out of bed, aiming for the shower.

She peeks out of the bathroom, as she wraps the towel around herself. No Taako in sight.

She takes a single step out. Still no Taako.

She takes another step towards her room. Her brother is nowhere to be seen, so she dashes the rest of the way, closing the door behind her and leaning on it in relief.

Phew.

“Mornin’, Lulu,” he says, perched on the end of her bed, far more chipper than he has any right to be, this early in the morning after a night like that.

“Fuck!” She jumps about a full foot into the air, a hand on her heart. “What the fuck are you doing in here, Taako?”

He shrugs. “Thought my baby sister might be avoiding me.”

“Avoiding you? Why would I be avoiding you, Koko?” She says, playing dumb, just in case he’s forgotten like she almost did.

“Oh, I don’t know,” he drawls. “Maybe after I saw something I wasn’t meant to?”

She scowls. He grins.

“Actually, I wanted to say fuck you for that. I finally kiss Barold and you burst in on us?”

He squawks in protest. “You - you told me to grab the others and come to a karaoke room! You didn’t have a sock on the door! You didn’t warn me! You think I  _ wanted  _ to see that?” Her scowl deepens, but he just grins. “How was it? Did it live up to your fantasies?”

“Fuck, Ko. I mean, wow,” she says, dropping any pretence of being mad at him. “I - I’m still weak at the knees now.”

His eyes widen but his smile only widens. “You’re serious? We’re talking about the same guy, here, right?  _ Barry Bluejeans _ is a good kisser?”

“I know, right? I was as shocked as you are!” She says. “But, I mean, wow. Maybe it’s the drink speaking, but...”

He laughs. “Well, you’ll soon see if you’re remembering through alcohol-tinted glasses. I don’t think his feelings are in doubt after a kiss like that. You text him?”

“Nah,” she says. “I’m  gonna see him soon, anyway. Hey, also, find somewhere else to be this evening, yeah? Go to Krav’s?”

Taako gives her a sly look. “Uh huh?” She scowls again, and he laughs. “Yeah, yeah, fine. I’m happy for you, Lulu. You know that, right?”

“Aw,  Taako cares?”

“No, I mean, I’m happy I don’t have to hear you pining all the time.  _ Ugh, Taako, he’s just so hot, I wish he’d think about me the same way -” _

“Okay!” She says, loudly, to drown out his impression, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him off her bed. “Get out! Bye-bye!” She throws him out the door, where he proceeds to, very maturely, make kissy noises through the keyhole as she gets ready to go out.

She’s actually early. Holy shit. That’s not happened  since first year. __ She’s here before Barry! That’s  _ never  _ happened. But, well, maybe she’d had an incentive to be early, today. What could  _ that  _ possibly have been?

She’s practically vibrating with excitement. She’s sure Barry’s not going to arrive and immediately sweep her off her feet into a kiss, but, well, that beautiful possibility isn’t such a long shot  any more ! And even if he doesn’t, she’s  gonna invite him over to  _ talk.  _ And, if  Taako knows what’s good for him, he’ll clear out. There’s  gonna be a sock on the door tonight, if Lup has anything to do with it.

Who’d have believed that going out and getting absolutely hammered would be the answer to all her problems?

She can’t believe she almost didn’t remember it. That’ll be something to laugh with Barry about – finally, after all this time, they kiss, and she forgot it immediately? She wonders, idly, how much he remembers of last night.

And a realisation hits her.

Barry had a lot to drink. A  _ lot.  _ More than her. And it takes a lot to get an elf hungover. Her superior metabolism protects her from the worst of it, but Barry’s got a puny human liver. But... He’d kissed her like  _ that,  _ looked at her with that hungry look in his eye...

But he’d been drunk. They’d both been drunk, doing things they wouldn’t normally. Even if he remembers the kiss, he probably regrets it.

Fuck.

If he doesn’t remember it, should she remind him? In the interests of full disclosure? But, if she’d done something stupid, something she’d regret, something that’d ruin her friendship with her best friend, would she want to know?

She’d been so happy. She’d gotten here early, and now? A large part of her wants to go home. Text Barry. Tell him she’s not coming in. She wants to curl up and die. Before she can make a move, though, she sees him coming from around the corner. His face is... unreadable. Is he happy to see her? Is that just his resting face? Gods know. Lup sure doesn’t. He licks his lips, nervously.

“Hey, Lup,” he says, when he’s close enough. “You’re early.”

“Hey,” she says back, testing the waters. He hasn’t flinched away, yet, which is a good sign, right?

“Wild party last night, huh?”

“Yeah,” she says.  _ How much do you remember?  _ She wants to ask, but... wouldn’t those words tell him there’s something he doesn’t remember? Hint that she’s hiding something?

He just nods, uncertainly. She can barely breathe. They look at each other for a moment. Is he debating whether or not to say something? Or is he cluelessly wondering what’s up with her? “Shall we go?” He says, eventually, and she nods.

“Yeah, yeah, of course.”

“I enjoyed the karaoke,” he says.

She nods. “Yeah, me too. Good fun.”

They pace along in silence for another minute. “And did  Taako and Krav sing My Heart Will Go On?” He asks. “It was a good idea of yours to, uh, get a room.”

So. He remembers  _ some  _ of last night. But, is he deliberately leaving a gaping hole around their kiss? Or has he forgotten it?

“Yeah,” she says. “And Magnus doing I Will Always Love You? Surprised he didn’t shatter any windows.”

“I’m thankful my glasses are still intact,” he says, with a nervous chuckle.

This is fucking  _ agony.  _ Does he know?! Why wouldn’t he say, if he does? 

“You, uh, hung over?” She asks.

“Oh, yeah,” he says, with a small smile. “I mean, you saw how much I had.”

She  _ did  _ see. That’s the problem.

If he’d liked it, he’d say something. And he hasn’t. The only thing she can draw from this is that he doesn’t remember. But... maybe that’s a blessing in disguise. If he doesn’t remember, everything’s the same as it was. It’s better than him remembering and not wanting it to happen again. Or, worst of all, he remembers and is so disgusted by it he can’t even stand to be her friend. And not even being Barry’s friend is... inconceivable. How could she live, deprived of him? Would her heart still beat? Would she still draw breath? Would the sun still rise, birds still sing, earth still turn?

So, everything is normal.

Except now she has to pretend that she’s not into Barry  Bluejeans while also knowing what his lips taste like. She’s got to pretend everything’s normal like they haven’t shared the best, most passionate kiss of her life. She’s got to pretend that their kiss isn’t the only thing she can think about, the only thing her single brain cell can focus on.

“Yeah,” she says, with a forced chuckle. “I’m just glad elves metabolise alcohol better than humans.”

He licks those beautiful lips –  _ Lup, c’mon -  _ nervously. “Lucky,” he says, with a small smile. “Some of us just do irreparable damage to our kidneys.”

“Ah, you’ll be fine. You’ve not got alcohol poisoning yet, right?” She jokes.

“ _ Yet  _ being the operative word,” he replies, and. Well. This is more like it. Their banter is almost normal. But... something still feels off. Is it Lup? Is it because she remembers sitting in his lap  and -

_ Stop going down that rabbit hole,  _ she berates herself. That’s got to be the reason. What else could it be? Barry doesn’t remember. From his perspective, everything is normal.  So it’s only her awkwardness that’s making it feel weird.  _ So, Lup, forget the kiss, _ she orders herself.  _ Pretend it didn’t happen. _ It wouldn’t be fair, wouldn’t be right, to hurt their friendship because of something stupid she did while she was drunk.

Somehow, she makes it through class. Somehow, when Lucretia asks if she wants a coffee, she nods an affirmative. Somehow, when she opens her mouth to give a horribly faked laugh, no scream of agony falls from her lips.

But she’s numb. That morning, the world had been full of colour. Lup had opened her eyes, and, with the memory of their kiss in mind, she’d discovered a whole new rainbow. Now, knowing that he doesn’t remember, it’s all grey, those gorgeous shades draining from her vision.

Lucretia says something, and Barry laughs. Lup thinks that maybe she did too, although she couldn’t possibly remember what the joke was. Instead, she sips her drink, and tries to remember if it always tasted like ash.

“What about you, Lup?”

She blinks at Lucretia, trying to rewind the conversation in her head. There’s a second’s pause.

“Uh, sorry? I was a million miles away, babe, what’s up?”

“Planning anything nice for after we graduate?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. Me and  Taako were thinking about renting somewhere near Neverwinter, see if the town is nice before we commit to going to the university. We can’t go on holiday, or anything, though. Gotta pay our deposit.”

Lucretia nods. “Sounds nice. You’re committed to Neverwinter, then?”

She makes a noncommittal  _ mhm _ __ noise. Somewhere deep down, she’s aware that she’s not being a good conversationalist, but hell, isn’t that allowed? Isn’t she allowed to just wallow?

The conversation halts, there. Lucretia’s looking at her with worried eyes, but what can she say? In front of Barry?

Of course, if she were paying attention, she might notice that Barry is just as despondent. He’s barely said anything since they met up that morning, and his laughs are just as stale and clearly faked as her own.

But she’s not paying attention. And, clearly, neither is he.

The silence at the table continues. Lucretia takes a sip from her own drink, eyes nervously flicking between the two of them, as the last beats of  _ what’s new pussycat?  _ fade quietly out. The Davy Lamp strives to be trendy, and the music it plays is often 70’s and 80’s rock or pop, and so Lup barely notices as the next song starts to play, until Barry stiffens beside her.

_ “I got chills... they’re  _ _ multiplyin _ _ ’!”  _ Fantasy John Travolta sings, over the café's speakers.

Lup’s blood runs cold. She can’t breathe, suddenly, and her heart skips a beat.

She’s sure the abject terror is obvious on her face. Oh, gods, what if this stirs up memories in him? What if it triggers his recall and he suddenly  remembers and doesn’t want to ever see her  again -

She tries to peek at him from the corner of her eye as Fantasy Olivia Newton-John's verse starts. He doesn’t look like he’s having a series of traumatic flashbacks. He’s sipping his coffee. He’s not, like, clutching his head, or whatever amnesiacs do when they remember things. Lup’s not sure, everything she knows about amnesia comes from movies.

But... Is she imagining things? Or is he side-eyeing her, too? Is it possible that, maybe, he  _ does  _ remember? And he’s trying to scope out whether or not she does? He  _ had  _ been like a deer in the headlights when the song started...

Lucretia gently but insistently clears her throat, and they both jump. Lup turns to face her, and tries to marshal her expression into anything  _ but  _ the ‘kid caught with a hand in the cookie jar’ look.

“Uh, it’s a good song,” Lucretia offers, and Lup nods profusely. Next to her, Barry’s doing the same thing.

“Yep, yep,” she says, just to fill the silence. “Good song. Love John Travolta. And, uh, and Olivia Newton-John.”

“Ah, the Bi Dilemma ™ ,”  Lucretia nods, wisely, and despite herself Lup chokes on her coffee laughing.

Lup slouches into her seat, barely even registering the start of class.  Taako’s still not there. Maybe, if she’s lucky, he won’t show up.

But when is she ever lucky?

He swans in only a few minutes late, throwing his bag down at her feet and dropping into his seat next to her. He gives their lecturer a cheeky wave before turning to her, his mouth open to say something, but he immediately closes it again. “Woah, what’s up with you?” He says. “You look like you did when the circus rejected your clown application.”

“We don’t talk about my clown phase,” she glares at him. “And nothing’s up.” It’s a barefaced lie, and she knows he knows it.

He sighs, heavily, putting his face in his hands. “Gods, Lup, please, don’t say it -”

“He doesn’t remember this kiss, Taako! I don’t -”

“ - He kissed you, Lup, like, you remember that, right? You remember the fact that you guys were getting  _ very  _ steamy in a public place, right? Lup, I swear to the  _ gods,  _ I can’t believe I share DNA with you -”

Lup just scowls, and  Taako clearly takes sympathy.

“Lulu, did you... Talk to him? Because this happens a lot. And, like, a solid ninety-five per cent of the time, you just didn’t talk to him -”

“What am I meant to say, Koko?  _ Hey, Barold, we almost boned down in a public karaoke room last night, but we were both absolutely hammered, are you okay with that?  _ Like, c’mon, I don’t want to remind him if he’s forgotten -”

“You know that’s exactly how me and Krav got together, right? Minus the karaoke room,”  Taako sighs, softly, looking back towards the front of the class. “Lup, you know... You have to take the leap. There’s no winning without risk. No pain, no gain. You can’t wait for him to come to you, because he’s a fucking idiot who can’t see what’s right in front of him, so you need to go to him. Just... Talk to him. Please. I’m begging you.” He pauses for a second, and then clearly decides he’s been serious for far too long. “And, I mean, Lulu, it’s hardly in debate whether he likes you or not. You were really goin’ at it, last night, I mean -”

“Okay, fuck you,” she says, swatting at him. He jerks backwards to avoid her, almost falling backwards off his chair. The lecturer gives them both a stern glare, and they sit forward and pay attention, for a few minutes at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _SO_ many of you called this, so I hope you can derive some satisfaction from their stupidity? Sorry y'all <3


	15. Chapter 15

He rings the doorbell and stands back, nervously fidgeting with his cuffs. The light in the hall flicks on, and the door swings open, and his breath catches in his throat.

Lup’s stood in the doorway, backlit by the lights of the house. Her hair is in a simple ponytail, she’s wearing a t-shirt (“I am a menace to society,” it reads) and shorts. “Barry?” She says, and she looks so pleasantly surprised that he can’t fail to grin.

“Hey, Lup,” he says. She’s so beautiful, standing there with a smile on her face, that he feels like he’s wandered into an art gallery. If he could paint, he’d paint this moment, and a thousand others, because her beauty deserves to be captured, committed to canvas, and displayed to the world. Really, though, could a painting ever do her justice? Could it show the way that her eyes twinkle in the light, the way the corners of her mouth turn up in the cutest grin he’s ever seen, the way those strands of hair fall loose from her ponytail, framing her face?

He might as well have fallen in love with a painting, because it'd be just about as likely to love him back.

“What’re you doing here, babe?” She asks, leaning on the door frame.

“Uh,  Taako didn’t tell you?” He asks. “He said we’re going out for a boy’s night.”

She opens her mouth to reply and then shuts it again. “For - for real? What a dick! He’s going out without me?” She turns to call up the stairs. “ Taako ! Your  _ date  _ for the evening is here!”

“Uh, sorry, Lup, I didn’t -”

She shrugs. “Nah, it’s cool. I don’t  wanna spend all my time with him anyways. Just shitty he didn’t tell me.”

Taako appears at the top of the stairs before Barry can formulate a reply. “Hey, Barold! What’s up, my man?”

“ Taako , you’re going out without me  _ and  _ poaching Barold? No fair,” Lup whines, and Barry feels his ego inflate a little at being so in-demand. Especially because it’s Lup. “What am I supposed to do all evening now?”

Taako shrugs, lazily. “Invite Lucy over? We’re only going to the bar. It’s not gonna be that interesting.”

Lup hums. “That’s not a bad idea, actually. Maybe I will. We’re  gonna do our nails and chat shit about the men in our lives.” She winks at Barry and whirls, disappearing back into the house. He flushes at the wink, even though it’s nothing salacious, just... He’s  _ hopelessly  _ head over heels.

Taako rolls his eyes. “She’s so dramatic. She’s probably just  gonna get wine-drunk and watch Netflix.”

Barry huffs a laugh. “Sounds like a good time. Maybe I’ll stay here.”

“Nuh uh,  Bluejeans , you’re coming with me. You’re the reason I called the Council of the Boys,” he says, ominously.

“Uh, what?”

“The council of the boys? It’s what I’m calling it when we get together to talk about stuff. I also considered, uh, the league of dudes -”

“No, I mean, why am I the reason?”

Taako gives him a sly grin. “Oh, look, there’s Magnus! Hail and well met, Magnus,” he says, not even trying to hide that he’s changing the subject.

Raven’s Roost is the nearest bar to the campus. It’s got a rustic energy, with hand-carved wooden chairs and tables, and some pretty decent milkshakes. They’re expensive, so they only ever go when  Taako’s friends are working behind bar so they can get them free, and they always sit in the same corner table because it’s the only one that doesn’t tilt if you put your weight on it. Taako leans forward, resting his elbows on the table, a serious look on his face.

“I’ve convened the Council today for a very good reason -”

“Council?” Magnus interjects. “We’re a council now? Hell yeah.”

“ _ I’ve convened the Council today for a very good reason,”  _ Taako repeats, shooting Magnus a look.

“Council?” A voice from behind him says. “ Y’all’re a council now? Hell yeah.”

“Oh, hey, Julia,” Magnus says, already blushing.

“ Coulda sworn it was a  _ league of dudes  _ when you were here before,  Taako ,” she says, with a grin, but he scowls.

“I regret telling you about my secret society plans.”

She shrugs. “I  kinda liked the  _ society of guys,  _ personally.”

“Society of guys? League of dudes?  Taako , what happened? You used to be so good at naming. Like Tres Horny Boys,” Barry says.

Julia raises an eyebrow. “ _ Tres Horny Boys? _ ” She sounds mildly revolted but fascinated, which is pretty much the standard reaction.

“Yeah, these two plus Merle. I guess I’m not horny enough for membership,” Barry says with a shrug.

“Oh, you’re absolutely horny enough, Barold. We might have to change the name to Cuatro Horny Boys,”  Taako says, with an evil grin. Barry’s blood runs cold – is that what he means by ‘ _ you’re the reason?’ _ “But we’re not allowed to discuss this with outsiders, so order up and Julia can get out of here.”

She pulls a rude face behind  Taako’s back, before saying, almost authentically in her best over-the-top customer service voice, “sorry, y’all, didn’t mean to impose.”

“You’re not imposing!” Magnus says, only a smidge too eagerly. “Can I get a milkshake? Butterscotch? Please?”

She nods and jots that down. “And the rest of  y’all ?”

Barry opens his mouth to order, but -

“Nothing alcoholic for my man, here. I’ve seen what he does to  Taacos when he’s drunk.”

Barry can feel his cheeks starting to burn as both Magnus and Julia turn to him.

“What -” Magnus starts.

“Three butterscotch milkshakes, please, Jules,”  Taako smiles, sickly sweet, and with one last curious look at Barry she reluctantly heads back to the bar.

Magnus watches her leave as  Taako fixes his eyes on Barry. “So, Barold, anything to declare? And remember you’re under oath.”

“Declare -  Taako , I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Hey, Maggie, remember the cool leather jacket Barry was wearing at the club? Where’d he get that from?”

Magnus snaps his eyes away from Julia. “Huh?”

Barry gapes. He’d come out to have a good time and he’s honestly feeling so attacked right now. “I -okay, Taako, what do you want me to say? I kissed Lup, alright, I mean -”

“You  **_ kissed Lup?”  _ ** Magnus shouts, excitably, a grin on his face. “Barry, oh my gods, finally! You guys have been -”

“She doesn’t remember it, though,” he mumbles. “Anyway, it was only one kiss -”

“Barold Jaako Bluejeans, I need you to know that she  _ definitely looked like she was enjoying it.  _ You think she’d be sitting in your lap and making out with you, thinking “wow, this is dull?” What’s fucking  _ wrong  _ with you nerds -”

Barry frowns. “But,  but, she was drunk. And, I’d be, uh, taking advantage of her.”

Taako rests his face in his hands. Magnus leans over and places a hand on his shoulder. “Barry, you’ll never know unless you tell her.”

Barry’s mouth drops open at the hypocrisy of it all. “Wha - hold on,  Taako , Magnus is also uselessly pining! Why aren’t we making fun of him for his enormous crush?”

“It’s not a crush on my sister, is it?”  Taako points out. “I called this meeting, so I set the agenda.”

“I - I don’t have a crush,” Magnus protests weakly.

“Well, I'm calling a new meeting! We’re  gonna get Magnus and Julia together,” Barry says.

“You can’t do that! This isn’t a democracy! It’s my secret society, I’m in charge!”

“I wouldn’t call it pining,” Magnus says, his voice  weak .

“Show me where it says in the constitution of the boys’ club that I can’t do that -”

“The boys’ club? The  _ boys’ club?! _ It's the  _ council of the boys,  _ Barold. And I founded the organisation, so I’m in charge. I’m the chairman of the council. The  chairboy , if you will.”

“I won’t,” Barry says, stubbornly.

“She’s - she’s a fine woman. I like her, we – we're friends,” Magnus mumbles.

“See? He’s in denial!” Barry says. “He needs it more than me -”

Barry jumps as a milkshake is placed in front of him. “Who’s in denial,  hun ?” Julia asks, a smile on her face.

“Hey Julia!” Magnus says, far too enthusiastically for a guy talking to a waitress he last saw less than five minutes ago.

“Hey, Maggie,” she says. “Can  y’all keep it down just a  li’l ? You’re  disturbin ’ the other customers.”

“Julia, I need your expertise here,”  Taako says. “I’m swearing you in as an honorary councilman.  Councilboy .” Julia smiles, clearly confused, but she holds her hand to her heart and nods, solemnly.

“Sounds like a great honour.”

“Okay, so, hypothetically,”  Taako starts. “Say you’re sat in a dude’s – or a lady’s - lap, and you’re making out with them, do you... like them?”

“I mean, probably? Be pretty weird to be  makin ’ out with someone I don’t like, right?”

Taako turns to Barry, and gives a gesture like,  _ I told you so. _

“That - that doesn’t prove anything! Julia, what if you were drunk?”

“Okay, that is  somethin ’ of a gamechanger. I do some stupid shit when I’m drunk, boys, I’m not  gonna lie to you.”

Magnus nods, sagely. “That is  _ such  _ a good point.” Everyone ignores him as Barry inclines his head and indicates Julia, like,  _ I know you told me, but you were wrong! _

“What if you’d been pining after the dude for years?”  Taako insists.

Julia, realising this conversation isn’t going to be over any time soon, sighs and pulls up a chair next to Magnus. He looks over at her, blushes, and looks away again.

“Well, if I’d been pining, I’d probably just tell ‘ em . I’m not one to beat around the bush, myself.”

Taako smiles a shit-eating smile and nods.

“What if you knew she didn’t feel the same way?”

“Well, again, that’s different. How do you – uh, how does this  _ hypothetical person  _ know that the other person  ain’t interested?”

“Uh, she’s gorgeous. She’s absolutely, just, stunning. She’s funny, she’s smart as hell, she’s strong – uh, hypothetically. She wouldn’t be interested in me.”

Julia hums, thoughtfully. “That is a dilemma. Could be that you’re right. But, uh, Barry? Hypothetically? I’d say that her identical twin brother  tellin ’ you she’s interested would be a good sign.”

“Does - does everyone know I’ve got a crush on Lup?” He mutters, as  Taako howls with laughter.

“Listen, fellas, this has been fun, but I’m on the clock, here,” Julia grins. “ So unless you’re  wantin ’ to order food, I’d better be off.”

“No, we’re good,” Barry scowls, and she laughs at him as she walks away. “Taako, what - what are you hoping to achieve here? I’m - she doesn’t want me. I, I, I – it's Lup. She’s  _ so  _ out of my league.”

“True, but you’ll never know if you don’t ask her,”  Taako says. “Listen, Barold, I’ve never steered you wrong -”

“You told me the assignment for our magic theory lecture was ten thousand words when it was only a thousand.”

“I’ve never steered you wrong  _ this month  _ -”

“It’s, like, the second.”

“Anyway, as I was saying, I’ve never ever done a single thing wrong in my entire life, and you should ask her.”

“He’s right!” Magnus says, enthusiastically. “What’ve you got to lose! Lup’s so nice, she’ll definitely let you down gently.”  Taako whips his head round to glare at him. “Or, uh, or say yes,” he finishes lamely.

“You don’t get to give advice!” Barry says, feeling a little defensive. “What about you? You’ve been pining for Julia, for, like, as long!”

“Wha - no! I haven’t! That’s not true!”

“Okay, go ask her out. Right now .  What’ve you got to lose? She’s so nice!”  He mimics Magnus’ earlier statement.

Taako shrugs. “He’s got a point. Set a good example, homie. Practice what you preach.”

“She’s at work! I can’t hit on her now, that’s -”

Taako narrows his eyes. “You’re right, but it still sounds like an excuse. You’ve got her number. Ask her after she gets off.”

“Wait, uh. No,” Magnus says.

“Yep! Maggie, how can I ask out Lup when you won’t ask out Julia? I need someone to show me how it’s done.”

Magnus takes a second, and drains his butterscotch milkshake, dramatically slamming the glass back on the table. “Liquid courage,” he says, and puffs out his chest. He turns, and waves at Julia, who’s trying to subtly watch their arguments from across the room. She waves back, places the glasses she’s washing back on the counter, and comes over.

“What can I getcha, Maggie?” She says, and he freezes like a rabbit in the headlights, his mouth hanging open.

“Uhhhh, can I get a refill?”

“Sure, and y’all?”

Taako slaps a hand to his face and groans. Barry thinks there are words in there somewhere, but the only thing he can make out is  _ repressed nerds  _ so he’s quite happy not to catch the rest,

“Yes, please, Julia, can we all have a refill?” Barry smiles, hoping to cover up the obvious awkwardness.

“Sure, bud.”

And she heads back over to the bar. Barry and Taako round on Magnus.

“Guys, it’s so scary,” he whines. “She’s really cute!”

“Magnus, you’re as bad as Barold, and I didn’t think that was possible.”

“Wha - we can’t all make out with a cute dude while blackout drunk and have him turn out to be our soulmate, Taako!” Barry protests.

“Literally the only difference between your  situation and mine is that I  _ asked the dude I kissed out after.” _

Magnus nods, but doesn’t say anything, quite content to let  Taako pick on Barry instead of him.

“Okay, c’mon,  Taako , I mean – you know? I’ve seen the people Lup’s interested in. They’re, uh, you know, hot. And, I mean, she’s way out of my league, anyway -”

Taako holds up a hand, and Barry stops talking. “You’ve seen the people Lup’s interested in a one-night stand with. You’ve never seen her date.  _ I’ve  _ barely seen her date. And Barold, don’t sell yourself short. You’re a good dude. And, sure, maybe you’re a  _ little  _ lacking in the fashion department -”

Barry scowls. “Magnus is literally wearing jeans right now. I’ve seen you wear jeans.”

“Magnus wears things  _ other than jeans,  _ sometimes, Barry. I’ve seen you in a tuxedo jacket and jeans, before. And I wear jeggings, which are totally different, because they make my ass look great -”

“You’re saying my ass doesn’t look good in these?” The comment somehow overrides Barry’s despondency, snapping him out of it enough to leave him feeling vaguely insulted.

“That’s absolutely not the point, and I refuse to talk about your ass. I was literally in the middle of complimenting you, and I thought you’d know how rare that is.”

Julia arrives back with her tray, unloading all three milkshakes and collecting up Magnus’ empty glass.

Taako’s eyes widen assertively and he looks pointedly at Magnus, then at Julia, and back at Magnus, and back at Julia. Barry nods, firmly.

“Y’all think you’re so slick,” Julia says, without even looking at them.

Barry’s face instantly falls, and he feels the blood rush to his cheeks.  Taako looks utterly unfazed, a wide grin spreading across his face.

“What, uh, what do you mean?” Barry asks.

“Oh, c’mon, Barry, you’re a terrible liar, and Taako doesn’t have a subtle bone in his body. Maggie, you’ve already got my phone number, you  doofus . I gave it to you the first time we met, remember?”

Magnus’ mouth drops open. “Uh...”

“I can write it down for you again, if you want. Or  Taako can give it to you, I know he’s got it.”

“No - uh, no,” Magnus says. “Wait, I mean – I’ve already got it. I saved it the first time.”

“ So call me, dipshit,” she grins, and bustles away back to the bar.

Magnus blinks. “ Taako , what – what happened? I think I blacked out -”

“She asked you out, idiot,”  Taako says, his grin dropping as he places his head in his hands. “How are you guys so bad at this?”

“Did she?” Magnus mutters. “Is that what happened?”

“ Taako , I – you know I’m not this bad.”

Taako drops his hands from his face to point accusingly. “You made out with my sister! You’re as bad as each other! I don’t know how to make it any more obvious to you repressed nerds -”

“I’m not a nerd!” Magnus insists, just as Barry cries, “I’m not repressed!”

“You’re such fucking liars,”  Taako says, with a long slurp of his milkshake. “Barry, have you decided where you’re doing your master’s yet?”

Barry jumps on the lifeline. “Uh, probably Neverwinter. But I’m gonna take a gap year and apply next year -”

“Okay, so, you’re  gonna take a year out, right? Are you gonna see Lup in that time?”

Barry scowls, his shoulders slumping. He should’ve known that Taako would never drop the subject. “Probably.”

“You don’t have any concrete plans, though, right? Let me spin you a scenario here, Bluejeans. You show up to Neverwinter on the first day of term and Lup’s got a new bee-eff. Standing for boyfriend, not best friend, natch, Taako’s always gonna be her best friend.”

Barry tries not to physically wince.

The idea of Lup getting a boyfriend is... he’d be happy for her. Or, he’d try to. But, would he be able to deal with that? With seeing Lup kiss someone else like she’d kissed him?

Taako’s face softens. “Barry, I like you. I wouldn’t tell you this shit if I didn’t think it’d go well for you.”

Barry looks away. Magnus’ face is still glazed over, slack-jawed, but Barry can’t even laugh at him.

All he wants is for Lup to be happy. Hearing her laugh is like the sun coming out from behind the clouds, the light and the warmth flooding in. Seeing her smile is like finding a winning lottery ticket. Kissing her was – was beyond his absolute wildest dreams.

But, is it too much to ask that she be happy  _ with  _ _ him _ ? He’d hate himself for being jealous if she did find a new partner, for wishing her happiness away, but... could he stop himself? He’s so  head over heels, so utterly in love, and he can’t imagine ever feeling like this about someone else.

And he can’t imagine Lup feels the same, whatever  Taako says. She’s so beautiful, so ethereal, so smart and so funny, that he can’t imagine she’d be interested in him, plain old Barry J Bluejeans.

And yet, there’s still that whisper of hope. The memory of all the times he’s maybe thought she reciprocates – their kiss, holding hands, sharing a bed. Could it be true, after all this, that maybe she does love him back?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Barry POV!!!! Now you get to see what _this_ pining dumbass is thinking. Mostly "oh my god, I'm so in love with her and she doesn't like me back oh no" (it's almost exactly what Lup is thinking too)


	16. Chapter 16

“Invite Lucy over? We’re only going to the bar. It’s not gonna be that interesting,” Taako says. 

Lup hums, thinking about it. She doesn’t begrudge Taako his alone time, but she certainly _does_ begrudge him taking Barry away when he does it. That’s her emotional support best friend! But, hanging out with Lucretia does sound nice. She loves – she _likes_ Barry, but he’s not the first person she’d go to for a manicure. 

“That’s not a bad idea, actually. Maybe I will. We’re gonna do our nails and chat shit about the men in our lives.” She gives Barry a wink that she hopes is conspiratorial and not seductive, turning and heading back inside to grab her phone off the couch. 

_Hey, Lucy, turns out the guys are going out without us,_ she texts. _Wanna come over and have wine?_

_Do you even need to ask?_ The other girl’s response comes as the door slams behind Taako. _BYOB?_

_Nah, I’ve got some good wine. Taako’ll be upset if I use his cooking wine but, hey, he’s the one who ditched me for the evening, so he can suck it up._

_Neat because I don’t have any wine to bring. Never seems to last long in my house, although I can’t imagine why._

Lup laughs out loud in the empty room. _If you’ve got any nice nail polish you can bring that. In the mood for a manicure._

_Sure, see you in 15?_ Lup’s about to send a text confirming, but before she can hit send, Lucretia’s follow-up comes in. _Better make it half an hour, actually, because I’m not even remotely presentable._

Lup laughs again, hitting send on the thumbs up emoji she’d already typed, before she looks around the room. Ah, fuck, it’s a mess. There’s Taako’s makeup kit abandoned on the table. There's a pair of jeans thrown over the couch, and a couple of dirty plates stacked up in the corner. She’s gonna have to spend the next half hour cleaning up before Creesh gets here. 

She’s barely finished throwing the dirty clothes and stacks of papers and books back into her room when the doorbell rings, so she just slams the door behind her and hurries down the stairs. She can see Lucretia through the glazed windows, so she throws the door open with a seductive flourish, leaning against the doorframe and tossing her hair. Lucretia laughs and steps inside, flicking her belly, exposed from where her shirt has ridden up. Lup squeals and slaps at her cold, cold hands, jumping out of her reach. 

“Ass,” she gripes. 

“I’m wounded,” Lucretia smirks and passes over the plastic carrier bag she’s been carrying as she kicks her shoes off. Lup peeks inside. “After I brought the nice polish, too.” 

Lup gives an appreciative _ooh._ “This _is_ the nice polish.” She can see her favourite glittery red at the bottom of the bag, next to Lucretia’s preferred baby blue. “You’re forgiven.” 

“Thank you, my lady,” Lucretia says, with a mock bow. “May I enter your palace?” 

“You may,” Lup says, holding the living room door open for her. 

Lucretia takes a seat, subtly trying to kick a pile of denim clothing peeking out from under the couch fully under, but Lup scowls. “You don’t need to spare my feelings, Lucy, I know I did a shitty job tidying. Just give ‘em here.” 

Lucretia giggles as she faux-angrily snatches the jeggings up off the floor and throws them upstairs. They’re a problem for future-Lup, now. On her way back, she heads through the kitchen to grab the wine. 

“Here,” she says, still mock-angry, thrusting the bottle at her. “Pour me a glass.” 

Lucretia pours a drop into her glass and swirls it, giving it a sniff. “I’d say this is a dry red, maybe an 1863 Californian vintage -” 

Lup rolls her eyes. “You know damn well the _vintage_ is last year, Lucy. Stop fuckin’ around, I’m not nearly drunk enough.” 

The other girl laughs again, filling the wine glass to the brim and passing it over. Lup takes a swig and slams the glass down on the table, bending down to pull her socks off. 

“What colour are you feeling?” She asks, rifling through the bag and arranging the bottles on the table. “I might go for, like, this purple...” 

“There’s a darker purple in there, somewhere,” Lucretia supplies. “With glitter.” 

“Gods, you know exactly what I’m looking for,” she says, fishing the bottle in question out. “This is perfect. How do you feel about... Huh, what about this pink? I think it’d look nice.” 

“Yeah, I can go for a pink,” Lucretia agrees. “Maybe just on my feet, though. Might go with a blue on my fingers.” 

“We can mix and match,” Lup agrees. “Here.” 

She thrusts her feet at Lucretia, wiggling her toes. A split-second too late, she catches the devious look that flashes across her face, and tries to pull her feet away, but Lucretia’s already got one in a vice grip, tickling her soles. Lup giggles and bucks, yanking on her foot, and eventually Lucretia releases her with a laugh. 

“Dick,” she scowls, but Lucretia just laughs. 

“Okay, I’m sorry, give ‘em back.” 

With a suspicious squint, Lup extends her legs again, and Lucretia grabs up the bottle of polish, starting on her big toe. 

They’re silent for a minute, Lup sipping from her wine and leaning back on the couch, Lucretia applying the paint. 

“So...” She starts. “You wanna tell me what that was about the other day? When we went to the Davy Lamp and you barely said a word?” 

Lup winces. “You noticed?” 

Lucretia just raises an eyebrow at her. 

“Okay, yeah, I wasn’t subtle about it,” she concedes. “I -” 

“It’s Barry, right?” Lucretia says, giving her a perceptive look. “You didn’t speak to him the whole time we were there.” Lup’s opening her mouth to agree, when - “We can go beat him up, if he said something. Acts of violence are an acceptable form of female bonding.” 

Lup almost sprays her mouthful of wine across Lucretia at that. Instead, she gulps it down, and says, “no, gods, Creesh, can you imagine Barry saying something? No, I – I – we kissed.” 

Lucretia’s eyes widen. “Gods, _finally!”_

Lup blinks. Huh? 

“You’ve been pining for so long! What happened, c’mon, you can’t say that and not give me the details!” 

“Was I that obvious?” Lup sighs. “I dunno. We were in the karaoke room, and we did a duet, and – it just kind of happened. Fuck, Lu, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it...” 

Lucretia narrows her eyes. “So... What happened?” 

“Gods, I don’t know. We were both really drunk, and – I don’t think he remembers. The next day he was all, like, _hey Lup, what’s up? I had a lotta fun last night!”_ Her impression of Barry’s voice is pretty accurate, but she’s never heard him sound as bitter as she does. 

Lucretia hums, applying the paint in silence for a second. “What did you say to him?” 

“Huh?” 

“Well, I mean. He could be saying the exact same shit right now. _Hey Barry, I had fun last night!”_

Lup scrunches up her face. Fuck. That _is_ a possibility, huh? “Lucy, I swear to the gods, you gotta stop being right all the time.” 

Lucretia laughs, and applies a little more paint. “Lup, I mean... What can you do except ask him? And, for what it’s worth, I mean – he wasn’t happy the other day, either. Something’s definitely going on. Was your duet, uh, was it to _you’re the one that I want?_ Lup, he flinched when that song came on. He was watching you the whole time, too.” 

Lup looks at her. “Fuck, Creesh, why wouldn’t you say that at the time? You could’ve cleared this whole fuckin’ thing up right there!” 

She chuckles. “I thought he’d insulted you or something! All I knew is that you weren’t speaking to each other, how was I meant to know about this convoluted bullshit?” 

“It _is_ bullshit! Why is he so dumb about his feelings? And don’t you dare turn this around on me, I don’t wanna hear it.” 

“Men,” Lucretia shrugs. 

“Amen,” Lup says, raising her glass. 

“But...” Lucretia continues, a sly look on her face. “I don’t think you’ve helped yourself.” 

“Lucy, what did I say!” Lup gesticulates at her. “Don’t try and turn this around on me. _Barry_ is the idiot here. I – I wore my sexiest dress for him when we went out and he’s still like, _oh, maybe she doesn’t like me.”_

“Didn’t he wear his formal jeans that night? That’s, like, his equivalent of a sexy dress.” 

Lup scowls. “I hate this. I hate every moment of this so much.” 

“I’m just saying!” 

“Don’t,” she says. Lucretia shrugs and mimes zipping her mouth shut and throwing away the key, before finishing off her pinkie toe and moving on to her other foot. 

Lup lets her work in silence for a second, before she says, “what would you do? If you were me. And into dudes.” 

Lucretia indicates her mouth (still zipped, obviously) but the look on Lup’s face clearly convinces her to stop fucking around. 

“You’ve got to talk to him, Lup. It’s better to know, right? Like, either he says yeah, which would be a win, or he says no, and you’re basically no worse off than now.” 

Lup grumbles to herself. “I hoped you’d have a solution that didn’t involve an actual confession.” 

“I’m not a miracle worker,” she smiles. “The only other option is that you let him come to you. And as you said, his idea of flirting is wearing his nice jeans.” 

“Fuck. Why am I attracted to the most useless fucking nerd on the planet?” 

Lucretia shrugs, an exaggerated bewildered look on her face, and Lup has to laugh. 

“Luce, we – gods, this is embarrassing – I slept in his bed. With him. All night.” 

She blinks at her. “And - Lup, that didn’t give you any hints?” 

“Gods, I don’t fucking know. I just – it's really hard! He’s so cute, and -” 

Lucretia shakes her head, exasperated. “Taako must be going nuts. All he talks about is how insufferable you both are.” 

“I - Taako told you about it?” She scowls. “Wait, _both?_ Lucy, both?” 

Lucretia’s eyes widen a little, and freezes momentarily, her brush a few centimetres away from Lup’s nail, but then she keeps going as if nothing had happened. “Huh? What do you mean?” 

“Don’t - don’t try and bullshit me! I caught that! Taako – that ass! He’s - Barry’s been talking to him about it? And he never told me?” Lucretia opens her mouth to reply, but - “And you knew? Taako told you? And you didn’t tell me? Creesh!” 

“I - Lup, I – Taako never told me, like, details! Just that you two had huge crushes on each other. Take it out on him!” 

“He actually said that? He said Barry had a crush on me? How does he know?” Lup would be embarrassed about how eager she was, if she hadn’t already spilled her guts about the strongest crush of her life. 

Lucretia laughs and shakes her head. “Lup, I don’t know. Ask him! Or, better yet, just ask Barry -” 

“No, no, I need to interrogate my shithead brother, first,” she says. “This whole time I’ve been agonising it and he didn’t tell me? Ooh, I’m gonna get him for this. Here, give me your feet.” 

Lucretia’s putting the brushes away, blowing softly on Lup’s toes, so she fishes out the pink Lucretia had been eyeing to make a start. Lucretia stretches out her legs onto Lup’s lap, and she pinches between the toes to pull her socks off and toss them at her. 

“I fuckin’ hate this,” Lup mumbles. “Why can’t we skip this part to the bits where we’re making out already.” 

“Me and you?” Lucretia grins at her, topping it off with a quick wink. “Okay, on that topic, is, uh, is Barry a good kisser?” 

Lup sighs. “Gods, you’re just like Taako. You want the dirty deets? Fine. He’s _really good._ Luce, I assumed he was, like, a repressed, inexperienced nerd, but. Wow.” 

Lucretia giggles. “Yeah, he doesn’t seem like someone who’d know how to kiss.” 

“Oh, well, I can definitely tell you he is,” she sighs, wistfully. “I mean, we were making out in a karaoke room -” 

A disbelieving grin spreads across Lucretia’s face. “You kissed in the karaoke room?” 

“Don’t - don’t start, Creesh. Just don’t.” She opens her mouth to say something more, but the noise of a key in the lock makes her stop short, craning her head to see Taako come in through the door, ducking so the top of the frame doesn’t knock his hat off. 

“Get outta here, fucker!” He shouts, flipping someone off and slamming the door. 

“Night out not go well?” Lup grins. 

"Me and Barry set Mags up with Julia, but he’s too scared to call her. He wants me to do it. Idiot,” Taako replies. “As if it wasn’t _very obvious_ how she feels about him -” 

“Oh, great,” Lup says, already losing interest. “Now, a little birdie told me that you said Barry has a crush on me?” 

Taako blinks at her blankly, and then his gaze slowly moves to focus on Lucretia, his expression not shifting. 

“I - I’m sorry!” She says, holding her hands up in surrender. “It was an accident!” 

“I can’t confirm or deny, Lulu,” he says, kicking his shoes off. “Barold’s embarrassing personal feelings that he may or may not have told me are confidential. We can laugh at him about it after you two get together.” 

“Well, Ko, that day will never come, because I’m not going to ask him out,” she says, swooning dramatically. “Not unless someone I trust, like my brother dearest, tells me that Barry feels the same way -” 

“Luce, do you see the position you’ve put me in?” Taako gripes. “I’m never telling you shit again. You sold me out.” 

Lucretia just laughs into her wine, pouring herself a new glass. Taako walks into the room and flops on the armchair, his legs draped over one armrest and his head resting on the other. “Lulu, all I can tell you is that, maybe, Barold and I have had conversations. Words have been exchanged. Discussions have been had.” 

She frowns at him. “Taako, do you remember when we were five -” 

“Gods, you always pull this bullshit,” he says, pulling his hat down over his eyes. 

“ _When we were five,”_ she persists. “And we promised we’d never lie to each other? I still remember it clearly, you said _Wuwu_ _–_ Luce, he couldn’t say Ls until he was, like, thirty – _Wuwu_ _,_ _we’ww_ _never_ _wie_ _to each_ _ovver_ _._ _Pwomise_ _.”_

“I didn’t talk like that,” he scowls. “And we were five. Promises made when I was five don’t count. There’s, like, a statute of limitations.” 

She hums. “Really? Because I’m pretty sure we actually made a blood pact -” 

“Okay!” He snaps, cutting Lucretia off as she starts to ask about five-year-olds and blood pacts. “Barold may have told me about a minor crush.” She throws a cushion at him, catching him square in the forehead and knocking his hat off. “Hey! What the fuck! I told you what you wanted to know!” 

“That was for hiding it from me, dickbag! I’m gonna burn your hats for this, you watch.” 

“Don’t fucking go near my hats. I’ll - I’ll -” He’s so apoplectic at the mere threat that he can’t even finish a sentence. 

Lucretia drains her wine and pours herself another glass as she waits for the fight to blow over. 

“I won’t touch your hats if you tell me what he said,” she offers. 

“Lu, what _hasn’t_ he said? Just fucking talk to the man. I swear to the _gods,_ Lup, you’re so fucking oblivious. He even wore his nice jeans the other night and, what, you didn’t think that was his idea of flirting?” 

“That’s what I said!” Lucretia cackles, as Lup’s mouth drops open. 

“Wha - how am I meant to know he’s flirting based on what jeans he’s wearing!” 

“Lup, have you _met the dude?”_

She scowls as Lucretia laughs again and offers Taako the wine. He foregoes a glass and chugs it straight from the bottle. 

“It’s - he’s so cute,” she says, sadly. “It’s hard. I don’t know what to say to him.” 

Taako gives Lucretia a long-suffering look, and she hides a smile behind her hand. “Lup. Lup, look at me. I’m a fucking knockout, and we’re identical. Are you picking up what I’m laying down here?” 

“Fuck you, Taako, it’s - it’s not all about looks,” she defends. “I _know_ I’m gorgeous, but come on.” 

“I’m gonna tell everyone about your crush on that clown unless you tell him by the end of the week.” 

She gapes. “Wha - no you won’t! Because if you do I’ll tell everyone about the juggler you made out with behind the big top -” 

Lucretia grins. “You had a crush on a clown?” 

Lup gives her a death glare. “If you tell anyone -” 

“Ask her about the clown car!” Taako exclaims. “She practiced getting in with all the other clowns for, like, weeks -” 

Lup scowls under questioning about her shoe size and her opinions on custard pies, but she’s thinking about Barry. 

_He feels the same way._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> She finally knows how he feels! Will this stop her uselessly pining? You'll have to tune back in next week to find out!  
> Also I've finally written a comprehensive plan for this fic! I actually know how long it's going to be now! Close to 100,000 words, if my estimate is correct! I'll update this with a chapter count if and when I'm a little more certain about it because I could definitely add or remove chapters before the final product, but, hey, it feels good to have some idea!  
> Also also, if you haven't read my other fic, Dawn of the Dad, it's angst with a happy ending about Barry accidentally adopting a child during his decade alone! It's a good time to start because we're wrapping it up, soon, so I hope you'll check it out if you haven't!  
> Anyway! Thank you very much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, please leave a comment or a kudos if you enjoyed!


	17. Chapter 17

Lup rings the doorbell with her elbow, her biggest tupperware full of soup in her hands. She has to wait a minute, but eventually Barry shuffles into view behind the frosted glass and opens the door. He’s wrapped in a blanket, wearing pyjamas underneath. 

“Lup?” He says, the question clear in his voice. “What’re you doing here?” 

She suppresses a shiver of revulsion at his snotty appearance – his face is pale, his nose red, his eyes a little bloodshot. “I, uh, thought I’d come give you some soup. I – wow, babe, you look like shit.” 

He huffs a laugh. “Wow. I feel better already.” 

“Sorry, sorry! I had to say it. Here,” she says, passing over the tub of soup. “Can I come in? I brought the notes from the classes you missed -” 

“Oh, thanks,” he says, with a smile. “You sure you wanna come into the plague house?” 

“Eh,” she shrugs. “Your puny human disease won’t get me sick.” She steps into his house and kicks off her shoes, thrusting her notepad at him. “Take this, I’ll heat up your soup.” 

He gives her a soft smile. “Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome,” she replies, and – wow, yeah, he’s still cute, huh? Even this gross? She still kinda wants to kiss him. Which is funny, because some of the biggest crushes she’s ever had have evaporated when the crushee has got a haircut, but Barry looks like hell warmed over and she’s still got the hots for him? Unfair. She wants a refund on her hell brain. 

He flops down on the couch, bundling himself up in his blanket, skimming over her notes. He looks so cosy and warm and even with him all gross she kinda just wants to snuggle up and tuck herself in. 

_Oh, yeah, soup,_ she reminds herself, and tears her eyes away from him to squat down and look in his cabinet. She knows he’s got a saucepan, but she has _no_ idea where it is. He’s got a knife block down here? In the floor-level cupboard? Huh? 

“Bear, where’s your pan?” 

He looks up. “Oh, uh, in the one above your head – yeah, that one.” 

She reaches up to his top cupboard and finds the pan on the top shelf. The bottom shelf is stocked with cans of soup. “Barry, what the fuck is your organisational system? Have you only got one pan?” 

“I - when am I gonna need more than one pan?” He argues. “I keep the pan with the soup because that’s what I use it for. I’ve got a wok, too, but I keep that with the dry noodles, under the stairs.” 

She takes a moment. _This_ is the dude she’s head over heels in love with? Gods. If they ever live together, the kitchen will be her sanctified domain, no Barrys allowed. Damn, she’s getting ahead of herself. 

“You’re sick, which is the only thing stopping you from getting a lecture on mise en place,” she says. “But I’m definitely reorganising this next time I come over.” 

He chuckles, ruefully. “I would’ve eaten the soup cold if I’d known what I was getting myself in for.” 

“Barry, it’s - it’s chicken soup. You can’t eat chicken soup cold. Please tell me you know that,” she pleads. “Gods, I can’t believe my best friend is gonna die of salmonella.” 

He just shrugs and grins at her. She scowls, turning back to the pan and pouring in half the soup. She’d spared no expense, either, this is the good stuff. She’d dipped into her and Taako’s supply of real chicken stock, not the store-bought stuff, which he’ll _definitely_ be mad about when he finds out. She makes a mental note to make some more before he notices, but forgets immediately as Barry’s soup starts to come to the boil. 

“Where are your bowls?” She asks. “In the fridge? You fucking kitchen demon?” 

“No,” he says, with a smile. “In the cupboard to your left.” 

She turns off the gas and grabs a bowl from the shelf Barry indicated, pouring his steaming soup in. She grabs a spoon and heads back over to the couch. “Here,” she says. “Eat.” 

He takes the spoon and has a tiny slurp. He barely reacts, which has Lup scowling because she _knows_ her soup tastes great. He clearly notices, because he gives a sheepish grin. “Uh, I can’t taste anything right now,” he says. 

“Oh, yeah, fair,” she says, with a sheepish grin. “How, uh, how’re you feeling?” 

She feels marginally guilty for not asking any sooner, especially because he looks, to Lup’s inexpert eye, as if he could be on death’s door. “Uh, headachey,” he says. “And snotty, obviously. Just – all around kinda shitty.” 

“Can I do anything? Get you, uh, some paracetamol? Or a hot water bottle?” 

“Nah,” he says, taking another sip of his soup. “Thank you, though.” 

She frowns. She hates feeling helpless. “Well, uh, let me grab you some pillows. I’ll make you comfortable, at least.” 

He leans forward as she fluffs up his cushions, stuffing them behind his back. He gives her a smile and she grins back. “Wanna watch something? We could, uh, see a movie? Something on Netflix, maybe?” 

“Sure,” he replies. “Anything in mind?” 

She grabs his remote and selects her account from the list (he pays, but she’d bullied him into giving her and Taako accounts. She’s amused to notice Magnus has one now, too.) She hums as she scrolls through the recommended list. “Any of these jumping out at you?” 

He shrugs. “Not really. Just pick something, I don’t mind.” 

She selects the first one to fall under the cursor. “Sure. How does this look?” The poster is a tall, athletic woman in a red dress rolling her eyes at a shorter woman with glasses in a t-shirt and khakis. 

“Yeah, sure,” he says. “Is this what your recommended list gives you? Mine is all, like, documentaries.” 

She can feel herself blushing a little. “Hey! I like romance. Sue me.” 

He chuckles, but it dissolves into a coughing fit. It sounds painful, and Lup wants to cuddle him and cradle his head in her lap and tell him everything will be okay - 

And, maybe someday soon. Okay, so she might _know_ that he’s into her too. But, it’s one thing to know that and another to act on it. And is this how she wants to ask him out? While he’s all snotty and gross and probably stoned out of his mind on cold medicine? 

Is that an excuse? Maybe. But she wants a story, a cute memory, a kiss to seal the deal. And she can’t have any of those things while he’s in flannel pyjamas, sick on his couch. 

She settles for patting his hand. “You good, babe?” 

He pitifully groans. “Yeah, I’m okay. Uh, the soup’s helped. Thanks.” 

She smiles, softly, not moving her hand from atop his. “You’re welcome.” 

The show starts with a pretty typical rom-com intro. The main character works in an office, and the woman she’s got a crush on is her coworker, who never notices her advances. Of course, the audience sees that her coworker is making moves as well, but the main character, through a sequence of funny but improbable events, never realises. 

“How long do you give it before they have to share a bed,” Barry says, sounding a little croaky still. “That always happens in rom-coms. They’ll be on a work retreat, I guarantee it.” 

Lup looks across at him. “Yeah,” she grins. “Pretty predictable, huh? They’ll lie awake all night thinking _oh, I wish she were into me!”_

Huh. Oh. She’s not gonna think about the obvious comparisons there. 

“Yeah,” he says, with an odd look on his face. “Right.” 

Gods, had she really missed this for so long? He’s so _obviously_ into her, now she knows where to look, and – fuck, gods, she’s angry with _herself_ , she can’t imagine how Taako must’ve been feeling. But – she'll take him out, when she’s feeling better, and they’ll get together for real. 

She settles back to watch the show. The characters are assigned to a project together, and they’ve got to try to make a fantasy PowerPoint for a meeting but they keep getting distracted by how cute the other person is. 

This one is straight outta their life, too, huh? 

She has to laugh, a little, because, well, _fuck,_ they’re idiots. She’s so into him, so so so head over heels in love, utterly gone, and – well, he’s probably not that bad, but she knows he’s at least got a little crush. And, yeah, she’d joked to Lucretia, but it’s not _entirely_ Barry’s fault. His obliviousness was only compounded by the fact that her flirting skills are, apparently, not very good. Which is something she’s gonna have to work on if – when, she corrects herself – they get together. Because she wants to make her boyfriend (she giggles a little at the thought of using the word to describe Barry) blush. 

He looks over at her. “What’re you giggling about?” 

She tries to keep a straight face, willing the forming blush to evaporate from her cheeks. “Oh, uh, nothing. Just – just thinking.” 

He smiles. “Yeah? Anything interesting?” 

“Nah, babe. Don’t worry about it.” 

She turns back to the screen. One of the women is painting the other’s nails, both of them sneaking glances and enjoying the contact. _Good,_ Lup thinks. _Finally_ _a scene that wasn’t lifted straight from my own shitty, shitty trope of a love life._

“What other tropes will be in this? I mean, gods, it’s only six episodes,” Barry says. “How are they gonna fit it all in? Fake dating, working together, sharing a bed is a classic, I mean -” 

“I’m surprised they didn’t start out hating each other,” Lup says. “Could’ve been an enemies-to-lovers kinda thing.” 

“Exactly!” He grins. “The writers, I mean, c’mon, they’ve got no idea what they’re doing. They’re making it up as they go.” 

They watch in silence as the episode wraps up, the pair still clueless about each other's feelings. Lots of longing, pining looks ensue as the credits roll. 

“Wow,” Barry says. “That was torturous. They’re fucking idiots.” 

Lup can’t help but laugh. “Yeah, they, uh, they really were.” Oh, the irony. 

“Wanna watch another? Or do you need to be home?” 

“Nah, c’mon Bear, I’m here to look after you. I don’t think I’m legally allowed to go home ‘til you’re better.” 

He smiles. “You could be waiting a while.” 

He clicks next episode as she chuckles. “Nah, my soup’ll be kicking in any minute now. You’re gonna be like Popeye, sprouting massive muscles and stuff. Oh, do you want honey and lemon tea? It’ll be good for your throat.” 

“Oh, I mean, only if you don’t mind -” He starts, but she’s already hopped up. 

“Nope! Of course I don’t. Now you just stay there and be pampered,” she grins, hitting the button on his kettle. From the kitchen, she watches as the opening credits fade out, opening on the two leads in a car. “Oh, fuck, how could we forget the road trip trope?” She says. “That’s a fucking classic!” 

He laughs, as the characters steal glances while the other isn’t looking. “It’ll be good to, uh, stretch our legs,” says the mousy, nerdy character, who Lup is starting to mentally label Show-Barry. 

“Yeah, for sure,” the more energetic and extroverted character says. Lup guesses that makes her Show-Lup. “Shame it’s for a work weekend. Wouldn’t it be nice to just take a vacation?” 

“Hah, I told you they’d be going on a work thing!” Barry crows. “Just wait, they’ll have fucked up the booking, there’ll only be one room.” 

She pours the water into a teacup. “Shit, you really – do you know someone who worked on this or something? You could’ve written the script.” 

He chuckles, looking away a little nervously. “Yeah, I guess – I, uh, I know how pining works. The, uh, the tropes.” 

_Aw, Barry..._

Her heart breaks a little bit. He looks so sad, so dejected. Should she tell him? But, this – it’s not the right time, right? When he’s still sick and grotty? She wants, like, a cute and fun story to tell people about how they got together, not that she confessed and he sneezed on her or whatever. 

No, he’ll have to wait a little longer, as much as it hurts her to wait. She wants kisses _now,_ but she knows that it’ll be better if she just holds on a few more days. “Here,” she says, softly. “Tea’s ready.” 

She places the steaming mug into his hands, and sits back on the couch next to him, a little closer than before, so they’re hip-to-hip. She rests her head on his shoulder, softly. He tenses as she leans into him. 

Fuck. 

She shuffles away, swinging her legs around under her so she’s sat facing him on the couch. He – he feels _bad,_ and she – she can’t keep pretending not to feel the same way if it’s hurting him. It’s not worth the cute story if he’s upset. 

“Barry, I -” 

She stops, licking her dry lips, trying to will her heart to stop pounding in her chest. 

“What’s, uh, what’s up?” He asks, his brow knitting. “Are you okay?” 

“Barry, I – I’ve - Taako told me -” 

She stops herself again, trying to piece her thoughts together enough to get a full sentence out. Barry watches her, a concerned look on his face, biting his lip and furrowing his brow. 

“The other night,” she says, eventually. “When we did karaoke. You – we kissed.” 

He gulps heavily, pressing his lips together in a thin line, and nods. “Yeah, we – we did. I - I’m really -” 

“Don’t - Barry, don’t apologise, fuck. Listen, hear me out, okay? I – I’ve been stupid, for so long. Four years, I’ve known you, now, and – shit. This is really fucking hard,” she grimaces. “Okay, we kissed. I – I really liked it.” 

He doesn’t look _shocked,_ per se, but he clearly wasn’t expecting her to say that – he blinks, and breathes a ragged exhalation. “Oh,” he says, breathlessly. 

“I - we’ve been friends for a long time, and I think I – at first I didn’t want to admit it, because – because I liked you, and I didn’t want to risk our friendship, and – and then we fell into this cycle where I pretended I didn’t, didn’t want more -” 

He reaches out and takes her hand. He still looks somewhat starstruck, maybe a little tearful, but he nods. “Lup, I -” 

“Wait, Bear, fuck, just lemme get through this, okay?” She demands. “C’mon, I got this far – after all the time it’s taken me to work up the courage -” 

He laughs, a little wetly. “Okay, yeah, I’m sorry, go on.” 

“Okay. I – I've been trying to – to hint – and I think you have too. We’ve both been so gentle that the other hasn’t _fucking_ noticed, because we – we’re both fucking idiots,” she says, and maybe she’s crying a little herself, now, too, but who can blame her? She’s emotional! She wipes her eyes with her the heel of her palm and continues. “Even - we fucking kissed and we both pretended we didn’t remember, right? You were doing the exact same shit as me, trying not to – fuck, gods, Bear, we’re morons.” 

They both laugh, and there’s a beat of quiet. “I like you, a lot, and I wanna date you, is that obvious enough?” She asks, and, sure, she’s putting a brave face on it, but her heart is pounding, her blood replaced with pure adrenaline pounding through her veins. 

“Yeah,” he says. “Shit, yeah, I – fuck.” He wipes at his own eyes, but he’s laughing, and she’s laughing too. “I - I’ve felt the exact same, I – I couldn’t believe – Shit. I couldn’t believe you’d be into -” 

He tails off, but she knows what he was gonna say. “Fuck, Bear, are you kidding? Of course – don't even start with that,” she says, taking his hand. “Of course I’m into you, you – you're the kindest man I’ve ever met. And you’ve got a nice ass.” 

He laughs, and she does too, and for a second all that matters is them, her hand in his, his eyes on hers. 

“Oh, fuck, wait, I – I didn’t say anything because I wanna have a cute story about how we got together! I don’t want to tell people that you were, like, stoned on cold medicine, and stuff -” She starts. “So, uh, we should, we should wait. To officially get together, I mean. We’ll, uh, we can go somewhere nice.” 

He nods, a starstruck look on his face like he still can’t quite believe it. “Okay, yeah. We – we've waited four years, what's a few days?” 

She grins and squeezes his hand. “Fuck. It feels good to get that off my chest.” 

“Did you – you really liked the kiss?” His face flushes just saying that 

“You’re fishing for compliments now,” she scowls good-naturedly. “Yes, I liked it. I – yeah. It was good.” 

_Good_ is an understatement, but considering they’d just agreed to keep it chill, until they got together for realsies, she doesn’t wanna scare him off. 

“Do you – I know – we just said we’d, uh, we’d wait,” Barry says, fidgeting a little nervously. “But, uh, do you – do you want to, uh, do it again? Now? Oh, I’m - I’m really gross, right now, it’s cool -” 

Her mouth goes a little dry. Evidently Barry didn’t get the memo about keeping things chill. Somehow, she can’t find it in herself to complain. “No, y-yeah. I do. I do want to.” 

If anything, he looks more nervous now than he did before. “I - okay,” he says. 

She nods. “Okay.” 

Neither of them move for a second. 

Lup licks her lips, takes a deep breath, and leans in. A split-second passes, and Barry leans in to meet her, and they’re kissing again. It’s not as explosive as last time, not as passionate or fiery, but it’s sweet, his lips on hers again, her hands in his, and he squeezes as they pull apart. “That’s - that doesn’t count,” he says. “As our first kiss. Neither does – neither does the drunk one. We have to have it, uh, somewhere cute. Like you said.” 

She laughs. “Sure. We – we'll go on a picnic or something.” 

“Yeah,” he says. “A picnic sounds - that sounds really nice. It sounds perfect.” 

She shuffles back closer again, and rests her head on his shoulder. This time, rather than tensing up, he leans into it, and, after a second’s hesitation, places his arm around her shoulders. The show’s still playing, and they both take a second to work out what’s happening on the screen. 

“I fucking told you they’d have to share a bed,” Barry says. 

“You only knew that because you’ve _lived_ this for the last four years,” she grins at him. 

“Listen! I – so have you!” 

They bicker playfully, but their hands are intertwined on his lap the whole time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're still not officially together! The pining isn't done yet!! :3


	18. Chapter 18

Lup hums along with the radio as she cuts the sandwiches – into triangles, like Barry likes – and wraps them in brown paper, tying them off with butcher’s twine. She puts them into the basket, along with the other snacks she’s packed, and twirls, taking the basket out into the hallway. 

The sun is shining. The birds are singing. There’s not a cloud in the sky. It’s a beautiful day. And, sure, there’ve been a couple of days like this recently, but this one is special – something about it makes Lup feel like singing, like opening a window and letting a bluebird land on her finger like a Fantasy Disney princess. 

She’s in her nicest sundress, her hair swept back, and she’s genuinely happy, without reservation. She’s going out with Barry. For a picnic. And they’d agreed that they wanted to be together, and a cute picnic would be the place to do it. 

They’ve not, really, uh, talked about it since then. So she’s assuming he’s thinking the same thing as she is. But this is the New Lup™, and she’s done with pining. She’s gonna be direct and tell him how she feels and ask him out on a proper fucking date. Yeah. No more beating around the bush. No more stupid fucking convoluted brain acrobatics to justify why he’s not really into her. 

So she takes the picnic basket out into the hallway and pulls her shoes on. She’s _gonna_ get a smoking hot boyfriend today, no matter what. 

By the time she arrives at the park, Barry’s already there, sat on a picnic blanket he’s spread out in the perfect spot – overlooking the lake, and far enough away from the path that – Lup tries to quash the thought, but then it’s all she can think about – they can have some smooches without anyone on the path interrupting them. 

“Hey,” she says, placing the basket next to him. “I come bearing food.” 

He blinks up at her. “Oh, hey! You – you look really good. I love your dress.” 

She grins. “Thank you! I love this dress, it was only, like, ten GP!” She sits, fishing around in the basket. “Want a drink?” 

“Mm, what have you brought?” 

“I’ve got, uh, red wine -” 

He laughs. “Lup, c’mon, it’s - it’s lunchtime.” 

She rolls her eyes. “I wasn’t gonna get you drunk, Bear, it’s just – it's picnic wine.” She does a snooty sommelier impression. “It’s fruity, light, summery, a light-bodied wine, perfect for drinking outside on, say, a romantic picnic with a cute guy -” 

He laughs, but, at her last comment, his face flushes. “You - oh my gods,” he giggles, covering his face with his hands. “Don’t look at me, wait for my cheeks to turn back to normal colour.” 

She swells with happiness. Flirting with Barry feels fucking _great._ “Sorry, Bear. Here. Have a glass of wine.” 

He takes the proffered glass, despite his earlier reluctance, and takes a sip, his cheeks still tinged with red. He just shakes his head when Lup grins at him, but there’s a smile on his lips. “You’re almost right,” he says. “This wine _is_ good for a romantic picnic, but I’d say there’s nothing better than having it with the cutest girl.” 

She can feel her own cheeks flushing. “Hey! Turnabout is – that's cheating!” 

He laughs at her, and she laughs too. 

They drink their wine in silence for a second. 

“I, uh, brought sandwiches, too. Even cut the crusts off yours, you big baby,” she says. 

“Aw, thank you,” he smiles back. “I - they’re just really dry. If I wanted to eat sandpaper I just would.” 

She laughs, passing him his sandwiches. “Here. Beef for you.” 

He takes a bite. “Perfect.” 

For a second, they just sit and watch the geese swim by. It’s a beautiful day, warm and sunny, and Lup intends to enjoy her time with Barry. Maybe get some smooches in. 

But, well, turns out it’s still hard to talk about this. She’s - so, maybe she knows that he’s into her. But she’s head over heels, utterly, deeply in love with him, and... maybe he doesn’t feel the same. Maybe his is only a little crush, and maybe she’ll scare him off if she’s not careful. 

“What’s -” She starts, just as Barry says, “I -” 

“Sorry, sorry,” she says, a nervous smile on her lips. “You go first.” 

He nods and licks his lips again. “I, uh – I wanted to say, uh –” 

Barry’s hesitancy is only prolonging her suffering. What’s he going to say! She needs to know how he feels _now_ or she’s going to fucking combust! 

“Magnus!” A horrifying, enormous behemoth yells as it jumps out from behind the nearby foliage, waving its arms and stamping its feet. Barry drops his glass of wine, and even Lup jumps backwards, flinching in anticipation of an attack. 

Her mouth drops open as she realises what’s happened. “Magnus, you – you fucking dick! Are you serious – why would you -” Barry grabs a napkin and starts dabbing at his pants with it frantically, trying to get the wine out before it stains. 

Magnus grins. “Gotta keep you on your toes! I don’t want you getting soft, Lup -” 

“I’m quite happy to get soft, you dick,” she fumes. “What are you doing here, anyway?” She grabs some more napkins from the picnic basket and passes them to Barry. He’s scrubbing at his jeans but the purple stain isn’t shifting, instead just getting covered in tissue fibres. 

Magnus swings around, looking behind him at the path. “I - I was here with Taako and Merle! They’re just up the path, because I ran ahead to scare you guys.” He gives them a wide grin. “We came out to feed the ducks.” 

Barry blinks. “You’re gonna feed ducks?” 

“Yep!” He says, a smidge too innocently. 

Lup squints at him. “With... what? I’d believe that _you_ were coming to feed ducks, but _Taako_?” 

“Just bread!” He grins. “Nothing else. Taako made it.” 

“You, uh, you’re not meant to feed ducks bread, bud,” Barry says. “It’s not good for them -” 

“Aw, fuck, really?” Magnus says. “We wasted a _bunch_ of weed -” His eyes widen and he clamps a hand over his mouth. 

Lup cackles. “I knew you were up to something!” 

Taako and Merle walk round the bend in the path, and, sure enough, Taako’s holding a loaf of bread. 

“You baked weed into bread?” Barry asks. “Why?” 

“We wanted to see if we could get ducks high,” Magnus says, sadly. “But if bread is bad for them we shouldn’t. I don’t wanna hurt them.” 

“I - Mags, I think weed might be bad for ducks, too,” Barry supplies, as the others arrive. 

“Guys, bad news, we can’t feed the ducks the bread,” Magnus says. “Turns out that weed _and_ bread are both bad for ducks.” 

“Aw, fuck,” Taako says. “I just wanted to see if they’d fall over or something.” 

Merle shrugs. “I’ve been doing weed for years and I’m fine.” 

Taako turns to him. “Are you trying to imply you’re a duck? What are you fucking talking about?” 

Lup looks across at Barry, ignoring the squabble. Their romantic picnic is pretty clearly over, at this point, because trying to get these three goons to do anything is like herding cats. He looks back at her and shrugs sadly. 

“Oooh, are these sandwiches?” Magnus asks. “Have you got enough for me to have one?” 

He looks at Lup with puppy-dog eyes and she sighs. “Sure. Roast beef or turkey?” 

“Ooh, with cranberry sauce? I’ll have turkey!” 

“Can I have one?” Merle asks. “Wait, do you have a breadknife? Can I take the filling out and put it on the weed bread?” 

“The breadible,” Taako supplies. 

“The breadible,” Merle nods, as if Taako’s said something incredibly wise. 

Lup does have a breadknife. “I don’t have a breadknife,” she says. “Sorry, Merle.” 

“Aw,” he says, sadly. “Do you have any vegan options? I don’t eat meat.” 

She blinks at him. “No? I didn’t know you were coming.” 

He grumbles to himself. “Fine, I’ll take the roast beef.” 

She decides the best course of action is simply not to address the abandonment of his veganism, because it’s Merle. She just hands him a sandwich without comment. 

“I don’t want a sandwich, if you made them,” Taako says. 

Lup’s not going to react to that. She’s not. She can rise above it. She’s a full-grown adult. She’s not - “Says the idiot who made weed bread to feed ducks.” 

Taako flips her off, and turns back to Magnus and Merle to keep talking about some other fucking bullshit. Instead of being drawn into their conversation, though, Lup turns to Barry. 

“We, uh, we should continue our conversation later,” she murmurs. “Without these chucklefucks.” 

He nods. “Yeah,” he replies, his voice low and a little husky. She likes it. “You’re right. We – we should.” 

Fuck, he’s cute, though. And she just wants to reach out and take his hand, or cuddle him, and she’s been craving kisses since the last one they shared (and, really, a lot longer than that!) and she just wants _h_ _i_ _m_ _._ It’s not fair. 

But she can’t do that now. Both because they haven’t had that all-important boundaries conversation, yet, and because her brother and his idiot friends are here, now, and she can’t exactly make out with her sort-of-boyfriend with the three most annoying dudes on the planet hanging around, now can she? 

Well, she could, but she shouldn’t. Especially because Barry definitely would not want to - not in front of them. “Tomorrow,” she says instead. “Make-up date. We’ll watch a movie or something. Taako’s going to a restaurant, if you wanna come over.” 

Gods, she’s been a fool – of _course_ their first date should be indoors, somewhere cosy , maybe dimly lit, maybe cuddling under a blanket, where _whatever happens_ can happen. Wink. Not that it will, but... Well, it sure would be nice to have that option open. 

“Okay,” he says. “Yeah. Let’s do that. It sounds nice. We can get a pizza.” 

Her eyes widen. “Bear, let’s _make_ pizza! It’ll be nice, I’ll get you some lactose-free cheese, and pepperoni? Or, wait, you like margherita, right?” 

He nods. “Yeah, that sounds really good! Uh, don’t - don’t worry about the lactose-free cheese, that stuff never melts right. I’ll get a lactaid. And if we’re gonna make pizza I could be persuaded to be a little more inventive with my toppings than just a margherita.” 

She grins. “Fuck yeah. You – you strike me as a ham and pineapple guy, honestly.” 

His mouth drops open and he reels back in faux-horror. “Lup, you wound me.” 

“What, then? Pepperoni? You told me you don’t like grease...” She muses. He opens his mouth to enlighten her, but she holds a finger up. “Wait, let me guess. Uh, barbecue chicken, maybe? But you’re _so painfully white_ , I can imagine you saying barbecue is too spicy.” 

He gives a shocked laugh. “You - you’re taking no prisoners today! I didn’t even say anything!” 

She laughs, putting her hand on his. “I’m sorry, babe, you’re right. I can’t guess, what would you have?” 

“I wouldn’t say no to a barbecue chicken, honestly,” he says. “Maybe a vegetarian. Can’t go wrong with peppers and onions.” 

“Oh, vegetarian, of course, of course. That’s good, too,” she hums. “No chili, I guess.” 

“I - I can handle a _little_ chili! I’m not that bad!” 

She gives him a disbelieving look. “Uh huh.” 

At that moment, Taako says, “right, Lup?” 

She blinks up at him, her train of thought stopped dead in its tracks. “Huh? What?” 

“I said, Gritty is an icon and we should abolish all hockey mascots except him.” 

“Wh - why the fuck would you want my input on that, Taako? I – I don’t have a strong opinion on Fantasy Gritty. Why are you even talking about this?” 

“Merle was talking about the Hamburgler,” Magnus says, as if that clears everything up. 

Taako squints at her. “You - we had a conversation about Gritty before and you said he was funny.” 

“When?!” She demands. “I - what the fuck are you talking about?” 

He thinks, for a second. “Uh, when he was introduced. Like three years ago.” 

“Wh - why do you remember that?” 

He shrugs. “Anyway, Gritty is anti-fascist icon and he should get the Fantasy Medal of Freedom.” 

“I don’t care,” she scowls. 

“Someone’s grumpy,” Merle says. “Is it because we gatecrashed your picnic?” 

“Yes! Obviously!” 

“Oh.” The dwarf makes absolutely no move to get up off the blanket, instead taking another bite from his sandwich. 

Barry tries to muffle a laugh at Lup’s furious expression. She rounds on him but can’t help the smile that tugs at the corner of her mouth. 

Oh, well, their romantic picnic is over. She can still have a good time with her idiot friends. 

Taako’s giving her a curious look – an eyebrow raised, his lips pursed. He’s obviously putting the pieces together – Lup and Barry, on a picnic alone, that she’s mad about them crashing... If she lets him think about it too long, he’ll arrive at the obvious conclusion, so naturally she flips him off. “You’re right, actually. Gritty is an icon. I’m gonna drop out of college and audition to play him.” 

“Exactly!” Taako says, his suspicions alleviated. “Who doesn’t love Gritty, _Magnus.”_

“He’s scary!” Magnus whines. “Why did they make him so weird-looking?” 

“Isn’t there, like, Lore™ that he’s an alien?” Barry supplies. “Maybe that’s what they all look like on Planet Gritty.” 

“What if Gritty is a scout?” Merle suggests. “Maybe he was sent here to determine how strong our defences are.” 

“And - and he decided to do that by being a hockey mascot?” Taako asks, sounding genuinely baffled. 

Magnus guffaws, but Merle shrugs, unfazed. “Maybe hockey is how they settle all disputes on Plant Gritty.” 

“Okay, okay,” Lup muses. “What if he’s a fugitive, though? What if Gritty fell in love – a capital crime on Planet Gritty – and he had to flee?” 

“Ooh, I like that a lot more,” Barry agrees. “Like Superman, he’s a symbol of hope and peace.” 

“There is _nothing_ peaceful about Gritty,” Taako interjects. “Gritty is literally as far from Superman as you can get.” 

“Okay, wait, what’s the – what are the axes on this graph? Like, top to bottom is “peaceful” and “hunts for sport,”” Lup grins. 

“Left to right is “from space” and “from Earth?”” Magnus suggests. 

“What about “humanoid” and “alien?”” Barry tries. 

““Capable of love” and “eyes that bore into your soul,” Merle says. 

“That’s - that’s the same axis again!” Lup scowls. “What about, like, “extraterrestrial refugee” versus “harbinger of planetary demise?”” 

Taako cackles. “Okay, so Gritty is obviously bottom right – he’s a precursor to a full-scale invasion who hunts for sport. And Superman is top left. ET is bottom left.” 

The picnic dissolves into chaos as everyone shouts about Taako categorising ET as hunting for sport. “What fucking movie did you watch?” Lup yells, as Taako grins, catlike in his glee at the havoc he’s caused. 

From the corner of her eye, she spots Barry laughing, and she catches his eye with a grin. He grins back, and she’d make fun of the lovestruck look in his eye if she weren’t sure that she had that exact same expression on her own face. 

So, maybe they hadn’t had the romantic picnic they’d wanted. Oh well. There’s always tomorrow. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually know someone who tried to bake weed bread. It didn't go well but I'm assuming Taako could do it? Who knows.  
> On one hand I really like this chapter but on the other hand I only have one chapter of backlog now... I should start writing more of this fic huh. Probably should've written some of this instead of 15,000 words of a different au huh. Anyways! Please leave a comment and a kudos, I love you, happy new year, see you tomorrow for the Dawn of the Dad sequel!


	19. Chapter 19

Lup lights the candles, burning her fingers and dropping the match as it burns down a little too close to her fingers. She hisses a curse and sucks the tip of her finger, but steps back and nods in satisfaction anyway.

She’s laid the table to look like a restaurant, with her nice china plates and posh silverware, a large, pristine white tablecloth laid out, and two small candles in the middle. It’s very romantic. She’s also laid out the pizza toppings – cheese, tomato sauce, peppers, onions, mushroom... all things for a veggie pizza. It’s not what she would’ve chosen to make, but it’s what Barry wanted, and she’s more than happy to accommodate him.

She’s  _ really  _ cleaned the house, far beyond her normal efforts – she's vacuumed the floor, dusted all the surfaces, cleaned everything up... And, okay, it’s not as if Barry’s not seen their usual mess, but this is different, somehow. It'd be hard to have a romantic date while there’s pairs of her pants littered across the floor and books stacked on all the kitchen chairs. Yeah, sure, admittedly, “cleaned” is a strong way of putting it, because she just shuffled the trash heap that was their front room into Taako’s bedroom. It's his problem now.

The doorbell rings, and she takes a final look around the slightly darkened kitchen. The candles flicker as she twirls, and she grins. It’s perfect.

She pulls the front door open and grins. “Hey, Barold.”

He smiles back. “Hey, Lup.”

He’s wearing pretty much his standard outfit – faded jeans, a cotton shirt, nothing special. He looks her up and down. “Shit, I feel – I feel so underdressed.”

“Really?” She asks. “I - it’s just a skirt.”

He shrugs. “You look – uh, you make it look really good. You look good.”

She can feel herself blushing. “Aw, thank you. Oh, uh, come in, you – we can’t have our date on the doorstep.”

He’s blushing, too, as she mentions the D word but he steps inside, closing the door behind him and kicking off his shoes. “Uh, yeah. Date. I – yeah.”

“Uh - I mean, is -? I thought -” For a second, she feels like the world’s been pulled out from under her; he sounds so uncertain that she thinks that, maybe, all this time, she’s been -

“No, no, I mean – it's just hard to believe. I – I've thought about this for, uh, a long time. I’ve - yeah. I want this,” he says, and he steps closer to take her hands in his. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s - it’s okay,” she says, a relieved grin spreading across her face. “I - I  gotta get out of the Old Lup mindset. We – we know now, right? How we feel? And I’m not  gonna go back to pining and shit. Fuck that.”

He grins back. “Yeah. You’re right.”

“Okay, anyway,” she says, reluctantly pulling her hands from his. “We should make our pizza. I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry.”

He hums, emphatically. “Yeah, I’ve not eaten all day. This – I mean, I’ve been saving room.”

“Fuck, Bear, that’s so bad for you!” She scowls. “You  gotta have breakfast.”

“I - yeah, okay, you’re right,” he concedes. “Just - when I know you’re gonna make food for me in the evening it doesn’t seem worth it. Nothing I make will ever taste as good.”

She bites her tongue to stop herself suggesting that she could make him breakfast. They’re not even officially together, yet, so she definitely shouldn’t be proposing a sleepover.

“Just buy a granola bar, or something, babe,” she suggests, putting some flour into a bowl with the yeast. “You need the energy. You’re a growing boy.”

He snorts. “Growing - I’m twenty-two, Lup.”

“When I was twenty-two, I was a baby,” she says, running the hot tap into the bowl. “I hadn’t even lost my milk teeth.”

He rolls his eyes. This is an argument they’ve had  _ many  _ times. “And there’s no differences in our biology at all that could account for that, right?”

She frowns. “You mean because you’ve got bad genes?”

“My jeans are great,  _ thank you,”  _ he says. “You love my jeans.”

“I love your jeans and your genes,” she replies. “Here. Knead this.”

He flours his hands and starts squishing the ball of dough as she chucks the bowl in the sink, leaning back against the counter. “Is this okay?” He asks, rolling the dough around.

“Yeah, looks fine,” she says. “It’ll only take five minutes and we can start rolling it.”

He nods, and silently squelches the dough for a few seconds. “So,  Taako’s out tonight?”

She hums in acknowledgement. “Yeah, with Kravitz. They’ve gone to a restaurant. Anyway, enough about him. I was thinking we could finish the pizzas and watch a movie? I don’t have anything specific in mind, so it’s your call.”

“I don’t mind either,” he says, still kneading away. “This look okay to you? It’s, uh, a little less squelchy.”

She gives it a poke. “Yeah, this looks fine. Do you  wanna roll it out or shall I?”

He steps back and indicates the countertop. “It’s all yours.”

She grins and steps in, ready to show off. “Okay, hell yeah.” She gives it a little roll with the rolling pin until it’s roughly circular, and then picks it up to stretch it by hand like a true pizza chef, tossing it and catching it again. “Gods, I hope I don’t drop it,” she half-jokes.

“Ah, you’ll be fine,” he says. “It looks very impressive.”

She gives the dough a toss so high it almost splats onto the ceiling, only just catching it again. He winces. “You sure?” She grins at him.

“I don’t even have the navigation to catch it after a little throw, I’m sure,” he laughs. “ So I’ll be impressed whatever you do. But please don’t drop it on the floor, I kneaded that for ages.”

“Ah, coward,” she says, putting the dough gently back on the counter. “I wasn’t gonna drop it.”

“Okay,” he says. “Remember when we made pancakes -”

“That - that was  Taako’s fault! I -”

“You flipped one too high and it stuck to the ceiling? And it dropped on my head, because you didn’t tell me it was up there?”

She laughs at the memory; he’d been so shocked but couldn’t help the laughter bubbling up inside him. It’d been a good look. “Here,” she says, chuckling. “Put the sauce on. Right up to the edges, the crust needs to be thinner than you expect.”

She hands him a ladle, and he starts to spoon the sauce out. “How, uh, how wet does it need to be? Gods, don’t say a fucking word -”

She’d been opening her mouth as he cut himself off, a lewd grin on her lips, but instead she zips her lips and holds up her hands.

“I  _ meant,  _ is this enough sauce? I don’t want it to be soggy.”

“Yeah, looks fine,” she replies. “You’re right, the dough won’t cook properly if we put too much on. Oh, do you want to grate this mozzarella? I’ll slice the onion.”

“Sure,” he says, taking the grater. “You don’t trust me with knives, I see.”

“I barely trust you with the grater, Bear, I’ve seen people take chunks outta themselves with those things.”

“I can – I can grate! I’m not that bad, Lup, I swear.”

She gives him a doubtful look as her practiced  knifestrokes make short work of the onions. “Okay, just... Watch your fingers, okay? This is meant to be a cute date, and I don’t want to have to take you to the emergency room with your finger in an icebox.”

“We could make that romantic, somehow,” he says with a laugh as he finishes off the mozzarella. “See? I told you,” he says, showing her the full bowl. “ Oh ye of little faith.”

“Okay, fine,” she says, begrudgingly. “Here, want to cut a pepper? Since you’re such a culinary expert, now?”

His face is immediately transformed to a mask of terror. “Oh, gods, you want me using a knife?”

She can’t help but laugh; she and  Taako have traumatised the poor boy. “ Taako’s not here, Bear, he’ll never know how bad your cutting is. Just – again, watch the fingers. Like I showed you, remember?”

He adopts the stance she’d showed him before, his fingers curled and the knife against his knuckles. “Yeah. Yeah, okay. I can cut a pepper.”

“Show that pepper who’s boss, babe,” she grins, leaning back to watch. A bead of sweat rolls down his forehead as he makes the first incision.

He’s not  _ too  _ bad. She used to be worried that he’d, like, somehow amputate a whole arm, but she and  Taako had trained all the bad habits out of him, and now he’s just slow. She could’ve had the whole bell pepper done in the time it took him to cut the top off, but – well, they don’t really need two cooks in the relationship, right? It’s nice to cook together, and his skills are perfectly adequate for that, but it wouldn’t bother her to be the chef in the family. After all, she knows all too well that having two cooks can spoil the broth –  Taako and she butt heads often enough that she’s had nightmares about being upended in the kitchen by her brother.

“Okay, I’ve got olives and pineapple, if you want either of those...” She says, slowly.

“Oh, uh, no, I’m okay,” he winces. “You - you can have some on half?”

“Oh, thank the gods, I thought this relationship was  gonna be over before it began,” she grins. “Olives and pineapple? Gods, imagine – my fuckin’ brother does that. He puts barbecue sauce on the pizza, and then olives and pineapple? This is – he's an absolute culinary disaster, I’m just hoping someone at culinary school will fix his shitty, shitty tastebuds.”

“And he makes fun of me?  Taako Taaco eats olive and pineapple barbecue pizza?” He sounds stunned. “I - I made pasta with hot dog water and he never let me live it down, and – gods, I’m horrified. I think this emotion is revulsion. I don’t think I’ve ever felt such undiluted disgust.”

She cackles. “Gods, yeah, he’s as bad as you. I’m the only normal person in this house.”

“Don’t you take steak well-done?”

Her grin immediately drops. “Barry, don’t have even fucking go there.”

He laughs so hard that tears spring to his eyes, and eventually she’s laughing too.

“Here,” he says, as the tears abate. “Pepper. Nicely cut. Just don’t let  Taako see how jagged my knifework is.”

“Cross my heart, babe, your secret is safe with me.” She scoops up the pepper and sprinkles it across the sauce. “Wanna spread the onions about?”

He does, taking the slices she’d made and spreading them across the top. “We don’t do the cheese first?”

“Oh, uh, no, cheese goes on top, or it won’t melt so evenly. That’s what I’ve always done, anyway,  Taako always does it the other way. He insists it cooks the toppings better, but he’s an idiot.” She grabs up a handful of the cheese and throws it across the top. “Now it just needs to cook. Also, don’t think that I’m not teaching you something, here, I want you making good, healthy foods. It’s 350 degrees. Easy peasy. Even you can do it.”

She slides the pizza tray into the preheated oven and tosses the knife and the cutting board into the sink, grabbing a stray slice of onion to munch on. “So, thought about what movie to watch?”

“Honestly, not at all,” he says. “Have you got any ideas?”

She hums, thoughtfully. “Eh,” she says, finally. “I don’t mind. Something romantic, but, uh, not too engaging, because, well. You know. We’ve got stuff to talk about. And there’s always Netflix and chill.”

She grins at him, deviously, hoping he’ll realise she’s joking. Well, half-joking.

He chokes on his mouthful of water laughing. Before he can reply, though, the timer Lup set on her phone beeps, and she jumps, almost dropping it on the floor. “Whoops,” she mumbles, grabbing the oven gloves, spinning around and bending over to pull their pizza from the piping hot oven. The cheese is bubbly and melty, the toppings warmed perfectly. “Looks good, right?” She shows him before the heat starts to seep through the gloves, and she drops the tray on the counter, almost burning her hands.

“Mm,” he grunts. “I’m so fucking hungry, can we cut it? Please?”

She can’t help the laugh that bubbles up, so she grabs out the pizza cutter from the drawer. “Sure, Bear, but you’re  gonna burn your mouth.”

She slices it into six, putting half on his plate and half on hers. He immediately scoops a slice up to take a bite, definitely burning his fingers and his mouth, but judging by the look of pleasure on his face it’s definitely worth it.

Just then, the door slams open. They both jump, Barry dropping his slice of pizza on the counter. “Lup!” Taako’s voice calls. “I’m home!”

Her eyes widen. Why the  _ fuck  _ is  Taako here?

“Oh, hey, Barry,” her brother says, coming into the kitchen, Kravitz in tow. “The restaurant cancelled our booking, so I told Krav I’d make him dinner.”

She blinks at him, apoplectic. This is the  _ second  _ first date her asshole brother has interrupted now! On consecutive days!

“Ooh, is that pizza?” He asks, snatching a slice off her plate before she can protest. “Vegetarian? And you didn’t put olives on it? Or barbecue sauce?”

Kravitz looks her up and down, and then at the candles she’s lit. “Uh, we can go somewhere else, if we’re interrupting -”

Taako waves him off. “Nah, c’mon, Krav, I’m not making you dinner at yours. Your kitchen is tiny. Lup, you don’t mind, right?”

She grits her teeth. What can she say?  _ Yeah,  _ _ Taako _ _ , I mind, I’m trying to have a date here?  _ She doesn’t want  Taako knowing that’s what’s happening. Not yet.

“Fine,” she spits. “C’mon, Barry, let’s go in the front room.”

He looks at her, worried, but nods and follows her. As soon as the door closes behind them, he places a hand gently on her bicep. “Are you okay?” He says, quietly enough that  Taako won’t hear through the door.

She shakes her head. “Yeah, fine, just... ugh.  Taako . This is the second time he’s ruined it for us, now.”

He can’t help but laugh. “Yeah. I know. All this time – he's been begging me to ask you out for so long, and now he keeps ruining it.”

She sighs, trying to purge herself of that frustration before she explodes. “Yeah, yeah. I – ugh. Let’s just enjoy our pizza, yeah? Maybe they’ll go upstairs and we can talk.”

She’s not even really focusing as Barry picks a movie, but she still smiles as he takes her hand, threading their fingers together. “We - it’s fine, Loopy,” he smiles. “You know – we, uh, we don’t have to have a cute story about how we got together. It can just be ‘ _ we ate pizza while Lup’s brother and his boyfriend made out next door.’” _

She scowls. “No - no way! We could’ve got together on your couch while you were sick if we weren’t  gonna worry about it. I’m determined to ask you out somewhere nice. Somewhere without my fucking idiot brother hanging around next door.”

“You know,” he says, a sly smile on his face. “I’m sure I can cheer you up.”

“Uh huh?” She asks, pantomiming innocent naivety. “How would you manage that?”

“Well, uh, we  _ did  _ already cheat on the first kiss front,” he replies. “Uh, I’m sure a few more won’t count, either.”

She grins, deviously. “Barry Bluejeans, I like the way you think.”

Neither of them have watched even a second of the movie, so far, and it sure doesn’t seem like that’s  gonna change as she leans in for their third first kiss.

She’s got a plate of pizza in her hands, and her brother is playing music loudly next door, but somehow the moment is still perfect. Barry could make her happy under just about any circumstance, she thinks, as he kisses her soundly, his hand on her back pressing her closer. The closeness is never enough, and there’s something in the pit of her stomach that wants to throw the pizza aside and clamber on top of him and  _ really  _ kiss him, cute story be damned.

He finally, regretfully, pulls away. “The  pizza’ll be cold if we keep that up,” he chuckles. “And, uh, there’s plenty of time for more later.”

She scowls playfully. “I  _ guess.” _

But then the kitchen door opens. Lup feels like screaming as  Taako strolls into the room, a croque monsieur in his hands. “Hey, Lulu, mind if we sit with you? Oh, shit, what’re you watching?”

Barry looks at her. She’s never seen him look so frustrated, and it’s almost enough to make her laugh despite herself. Kravitz follows  Taako in, far less bold than he had been, looking at her with an apologetic look.

“Shuffle up, Lu, I  wanna sit with my boy,”  Taako says, squeezing in beside her. “Krav, c’mon, you can sit on my lap.”

“Taako, could you – could you fuck off?”

He gasps, dramatically. “Lup, you wound me.” He makes absolutely no move to leave, and she sighs.

“Fine, asshole. No kissing, though,” she says. If she can’t kiss her boyfriend(- ish ) then he certainly can’t kiss his. “I don’t  wanna have to watch that gross shit.”

“Cross my heart and hope to die,”  Taako says, but he’s got a hand behind his back so Lup’s 99% sure he’s got his fingers crossed. “C’mon, Krav. Oh, shit, I love this movie. We should make popcorn.”

Lup tunes her brother out, and stealthily places her hand in Barry’s. Well, if they can’t kiss, she can at least hold his hand.

They’ll just have to wait. Next time, she’s  gonna take Barry somewhere a good few miles away so  Taako can’t find them to ruin another date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this chapter is really sweet and cute but more importantly i have NO backlog of this fic any more. I have about 200 words of the next chapter written so I probably need to Actually Do Some Work! Whoops! :)  
> Anyways. I did actually make pasta with hot dog water and bro.... it's pretty good....... can confirm that barbecue olive and pineapple pizza is bad because it's my sister's favourite. It's bad.  
> Anyways I hope you enjoyed this <3 please leave a comment and a kudos ily <3


	20. Chapter 20

Taako aims to spend as little time on campus as possible. 

It’s a nice campus, sure, but what if someone sees him at the library? It could do serious damage to the persona he’s carefully cultivated if rumour gets out that he’s a nerd. So he might physically be in the library, but mentally he’s off doing something way cooler. Additionally, he’s wearing his biggest pair of sunglasses and an enormous hat to try to disguise his identity, so no one he knows will recognise him. 

He thinks he’s a genius for coming up with that idea until Kravitz flops down on the couch next to him. “Hey, Taako,” he says. “How’s it going?” 

Taako blinks at him from behind his thick glasses. “Wha - who’s Taako?” 

Kravitz raises an eyebrow, a confused smile on his face. “Uh, he’s my boyfriend?” There’s a beat, and his face falls into a horrified expression. “Oh, gods, wait, you’re not Lup again, right? Oh, I’m sorry -” 

Taako tears his sunglasses off. “Fuck, fine, it’s me. How did you know?” 

“Uh, what?” 

“How did you know it was me? I was incognito,” he insists. 

Kravitz laughs, nervously. “Uh, you were wearing a two-foot wizard’s hat and bright pink sunglasses? Who else -” 

Taako stares at him, unblinking. “You think I’d wear this hat with these sunglasses? No one with any fashion sense would pair these, and since I have great fashion sense it can’t be me wearing them. It’s a genius disguise.” 

Kravitz nods, slowly. “Right. I, uh, I understand completely, now. Do you want me to leave?” 

Taako scowls at him for a second longer before his expression thaws. “Nah, bones, you’re here now. What’s up?” Kravitz starts to reply before Taako continues. “Wait, again? You said “you’re not Lup again?” How many times have you seen my sister and thought she’s me?” 

Kravitz flushes. “I - a couple! You’re identical!” 

Taako cackles. “Oh my gods, please tell me you tried to kiss her.” 

“Only once,” he mumbles. “Another time I almost slapped her ass until I saw the smitten look Barry was giving her.” 

“Oh my gods,” Taako wheezes. “She’d have killed you. You’d be dead. What a fuckin’ way to go.” 

“She laughed at me for, like, a solid half hour. I had to agree to a blank cheque favour in order for her not to tell you,” Kravitz admits. “I live in fear of what she’ll make me do.” 

“Probably run across campus naked, or something,” Taako says, as if that’s no big deal. “It’s what you deserve for trying to slap my ass in public.” 

“I know,” Kravitz says, miserably. “I’m paranoid, now, though. Any time we go to kiss I have a moment of oh, god, what if this is Lup and not Taako.” 

Taako looks away, turning his nose up. “You know, Barry can tell Lup and I apart,” he says. “I guess Lup’s beau is simply more attentive than mine.” 

“Wha - that’s not fair!” Kravitz protests. “Barry’s known you, like, ten times as long!” 

Taako just cackles. “Oh, speaking of Barry,” Kravitz continues. “Are he and Lup... like, actually together yet? Because it sure looked like we interrupted a date last week.” 

Taako scoffs. “No, those idiots. They do shit like that all the time. You know Barry took her stargazing in the first year, in December, and so they were cuddling for warmth under the stars, and I tried to say like, hey, Lup, that’s totally a date, but she wouldn’t hear it. A candlelit dinner is nothing compared to some of the shit they do, Krav.” 

Kravitz can’t help but laugh. “They’re so dumb. Like, the way they were looking at each other? They must be blind.” 

“You’re telling me – hey, little dude!” 

Kravitz blinks, before he realises that last comment wasn’t addressed at him, but a short figure dressed in a suit and a cap. 

“Hello, sir!” The kid says, brightly. “Are you ready? I don’t mind waiting, if you’re busy! I wanted to check to see if they had a new book I was looking for -” 

“Ah, yeah, that good good Caleb Cleveland content, huh, kiddo?” Taako says. 

“No, sir,” the kid replies. “A book on forensic methodology. They keep saying it’s on order but it’s not arrived yet.” He pouts, and Kravitz furrows his brow. Is this a halfling or a dwarf or something? Taako referred to him as kiddo, but there can’t be many human kids interested in forensic methodology, right? 

“Hi,” he says, introducing himself. “I’m Kravitz, Taako’s -” 

“Friend,” Taako interrupts. “Krav here is my good buddy.” 

Kravitz whips around to stare, but tries to keep it rational. It’s not that Taako doesn’t want people knowing they’re dating, because all their friends know, so... What? 

The kid looks between the two of them, squinting, and finally grins. “You two are boning!” 

Kravitz is glad he doesn’t have a mouthful of water because that would definitely have made him spit-take all over Taako. He’d never live that down. “Bo - how old are you!?” He cries, garnering some dirty looks from the other patrons of the library and continuing in a quieter tone. “Taako, there’s no way -” 

“I didn’t teach him about boning, Krav, cool it,” Taako says. “D’jango is, like, smarter than most adults I know. I wondered how long it’d take the little shit to figure out we were dating, which is the way we say it in front of polite company, kid.” 

“You’re not polite company, sir, and I have to assume your boyfriend isn’t, either,” Angus grins. “Another solve,” he brags, puffing out his chest. “You’re like an open book.” 

Taako just rolls his eyes. “I tutor him. Magic lessons,” he says, as an aside to Kravitz. “He’s not very good, so I have to go easy on him.” He stage-whispers that last part, and Angus scowls. 

“You said I was doing great last week, sir,” he says. “I’ll remind you of that comment next time you need help setting up spells to prank Magnus. I’m sure he’d be far more appreciative of my help.” 

Taako’s face falls immediately. “You pranked Magnus?” Kravitz asks, a grin creeping across his face. 

“Oh, yes, sir, didn’t mister Taako tell you? He transmuted all of Magnus’ shoes one size smaller and when he ran out of spell slots, he made me, just an innocent little boy, commit his crimes with him,” Angus smiles, far too guilelessly for Kravitz to believe for a second he’s as innocent as he’s acting. 

“Fine,” Taako grumbles. “You’re good at magic, kid, don’t help Magnus with his pranks. I tremble to think of what you could achieve with his ruthless pranking skill and your magic.” 

“Magnus got miss Lup to make a replica of one of Taako’s hats out of marzipan,” Angus grins, and Kravitz laughs. “He didn’t realise until it melted.” 

“Apparently my darling sister knows a spell that makes it melt when I’m in class,” Taako grumbles. “Even my lecturer laughed at me.” 

“You still need to get him back for that,” Angus replies, giggling. “Have you had any ideas yet?” 

“I was thinking about getting Julia involved somehow,” Taako mumbles. “I’m not sure yet. I’ll come up with something.” 

“What about conjure elemental,” Kravitz muses. “You could... Make some kind of a replica of Julia, which wouldn’t be hard with transmutation magic, and conjure an elemental to possess it. You could set them up on a date and wait and see how long it takes him to realise his girlfriend has been replaced by a nonverbal being from another plane.” 

Taako stares at him, a grin slowly spreading across his face. Angus just giggles. “I can see why you like him, sir.” 

Taako has to laugh. “Yeah, that's the only reason, kid, another solve. Alright, go find your nerd book. I’ll wait here.” 

Angus dumps his bag at Taako’s feet and scampers off into the shelves. Kravitz gives Taako a look that he very much doesn’t like. “I didn’t know you had a son, Taako,” he says, a shit-eating grin on his face. 

“Yeah, alright, yuck it up,” Taako rolls his eyes. “The kid - I mean, he lives with his grandpa, but half the time the old guy doesn’t remember Angus’ name. We’re just makin’ sure he eats.” 

“We?” Kravitz enquires. 

“Yeah, me ‘n Lup. She’s making me do it, really, I couldn’t care less about the kid,” he says, and maybe his aloof tone would fool someone who didn’t know him but Kravitz can see that affectionate look in his eye as he watches Angus disappear into the stacks. 

“Uh huh,” he says. “And how often do you look after this kid you don’t care about?” 

Taako tries to bite down on a smile but it pulls at the corners of his mouth nonetheless. “Only on weekends,” he says. “He gets free lunches at school, so we know he’s eaten something, at least, but at weekends -” 

“I think it’s admirable,” Kravitz says, with a sappy smile that’d make Taako retch if it weren’t Kravitz. He’s seen Barry make that exact expression at Lup, and at the time he’d thought it was revolting, but now he just returns the grin. “He’s clearly very fond of you.” 

“Yeah, well, who isn’t?” Taako says, and Kravitz laughs as Angus comes bounding back up, a stack of books in his arms. 

“Is it okay if you take some of these out for me, sir?” He pleads, giving Taako puppy-dog eyes. Kravitz hides a smile behind his hand. “I’m not a student here so I’m only allowed to take out two, but I really want to read all of these, and you can take out as many as you want -” 

“What’s in it for me, kid?” Taako asks, standing and brushing himself off. “Did you get that A+ you promised on your biology test?” 

“Yes, sir!” Angus chirps. “Easily. I was top of my class.” 

“Attaboy,” Taako grins. “Alright, come on, I’ll get you your books. Krav, you wanna tag along? I don’t want you teaching my apprentice any of that bard shit, but you can watch as I teach him some stuff from the superior school of magic.” 

“Your apprentice, sir?” Angus asks, his face a mask of innocence. 

Taako whips his head around to look down at Angus. “Damn right. And don’t let Lup tell you any different.” 

“Well, she made me this bracelet, sir,” Angus says, and pulls up his sleeve to show a friendship bracelet, woven with beads and letters that spell out best apprentice. “I’ve never got any gifts like that from you, sir, so maybe I am her apprentice after all!” 

Taako gasps. “Ango, this is a betrayal! I thought you were transmutation for life!” 

“Miss Lup told me you’d say that,” he says. “She wanted me to show you this face.” 

And he gives Taako the very definition of a shit-eating grin. Taako growls. “Ooh, she’s gonna get it for that. Right, you want a bracelet, kid? I’ll buy you a much better bracelet. One of those ones with a broken heart that you put together, maybe.” 

“Sir, you could buy me ice cream instead,” Angus says. “That would confirm my position as your apprentice, at least for another few days.” 

“Angus, are you using their rivalry for your own ends?” Kravitz asks. “Where did a ten-year-old learn such devious tactics?” 

“From us,” Taako gripes. 

“Where else?” Angus adds, and Kravitz has to laugh. 

“You’ve definitely met your match, love,” he says, looping his fingers through Taako’s. Taako squeezes back, and Kravitz grins as they head outside and across the road towards the park. 

“How long have you two been dating, sir?” Angus says, pulling at Kravitz’s sleeve. 

“A few months,” Kravitz replies. “We met at a club -” 

“And you never told me, sir?” Angus pouts, and Taako laughs. 

“Kid, you’re not my mum,” he says. “My boyfriend is none of your business.” 

“I bet Miss Lup would tell me if she had a boyfriend,” Angus mumbles, and Taako scowls. 

“Miss Lup hasn’t even told herself she’s got a boyfriend,” he grumbles, matching Angus’ petulant tone. “C’mon, you want ice cream or not?” 

“Yes please, sir!” Angus says, immediately perking up and scampering off ahead of them. 

“He’s like a little Taako,” Kravitz says, a teasing smile on his face. “Are you sure there wasn’t a secret third Taako twin?” 

“How dare you,” Taako replies, keeping an eye on Angus as the kid runs up to the ice cream shop. “I’m not that much of a nerd.” 

“You’re already working on the calculations for conjuring an elemental to possess the Julia mannequin, aren’t you?” Kravitz asks. “That’s a lot of complex maths to do in your head.” 

Taako scowls. “It’s not even that complex.” 

“I’ve seen the equations, it is,” Kravitz says. “Don’t undersell yourself -” 

“Yeah, cha’boy knows what he’s worth,” Taako grins. “But I’m also not a nerd. I’m too cool. You think a nerd would wear this?” 

He indicates himself, and Kravitz chuckles. “Taako, I can honestly say you’re the only person in the world I can envision wearing that.” 

“Uh, of course,” Taako preens as they catch up to Angus, joining the queue trailing out of the door. “Who else could pull it off?” 

“Barry dressed as you at Halloween last year!” Angus supplies. “I thought he looked pretty good!” 

Taako opens his mouth to protest and shuts it again. “Yeah, he actually did. I was mad about how good he made it look. He’s hidden that ass beneath denim for so long I assumed he was just a shapeless blob beneath it but he’s actually not bad.” 

Kravitz nudges his shoulder against Taako’s. “Should I be worried? Are you gonna leave me for Barry?” 

Taako pushes back, a little more forcefully. “No, dipshit, I’m not interested in Barry Bluejeans. If he and Lup are anything to go by it’d take years for me to seduce him and I don’t have that kinda patience.” 

“Good to know the only thing stopping you from leaving me for your sister’s boyfriend is that he’s oblivious about people coming on to him,” Kravitz grumbles. Taako ignores him. 

“Actually, you know what? I’m not nearly as dumb as Lup, I’m sure I could do it faster. Maybe – wait, Krav, hear me out – I'll dress as Lup and seduce Barry, then right before he’s gonna kiss me I’ll be like “wait! Hold on!” and run round the corner to swap with the real Lup -” 

“Is that – is that what you think Lup sounds like?” Kravitz giggles at Taako’s impression. “You know you two sound the exact same, right?” 

“Nonsense,” Taako says, waving a hand dismissively. “I sound way cooler.” 

They’re approaching the front of the queue, now, so Taako takes a look at the freezer full of ice cream buckets. “You want one, Krav? What’re you having, Ango?” 

“Triple chocolate!” Angus chirps. 

“Oh, gods,” Taako groans. “Don’t spill it down yourself like last time -” 

“That was one time, sir,” Angus scowls at him. “I’m not a baby, I’m ten!” 

“It was like an explosion, Krav,” Taako says, over Angus’ head. “He was coated in it. Absolutely covered from head to toe -” 

“Unless you want your boyfriend hearing about the time you, Magnus, and Merle almost burned down Phandolin, you should stop,” Angus says, folding his arms. 

Taako giggles and zips his mouth, throwing away the key, before continuing anyway. “So, Krav, what’re you having?” 

“Uh - mint choc chip?” Kravitz hazards. Taako makes a faux-retching noise. 

“Disgusting. Get some taste buds please,” he says, as they finally reach the front. “One triple chocolate, one maple pecan, one mint choc chip, please,” he requests from the man behind the counter. 

“All with flakes!” Angus says, bouncing up and down on the spot. 

“All with flakes,” Taako concurs, and the man starts bustling around preparing their ice creams. 

“Is it a good idea to get Angus all sugared up at the start of your lesson?” Kravitz wonders. “Maybe you should buy him ice cream just before he goes back to his grandfathers’ -” 

Angus scowls, but Taako gasps. “Gods, Krav, you’re a genius. Do you think they’ll hold these for us until we get back?” 

“No way!” Angus says, still frowning. “I don’t get excitable when I have sugar! I’m ten, sir, I don’t need to be babied!” 

Taako mouths yes he does over Angus’ head, and the kid punches him in the thigh. Kravitz can’t help but laugh as Taako pretends to be mortally wounded. 

Surprise babies never seemed like something that would happen to Kravitz, a decidedly gay man, and yet here he is, with his boyfriend and pseudo-adopted son. And yet somehow it feels perfectly natural as Taako swoons, beseeching Kravitz to tell Lup he loves her, to tell Barry to keep his hands off his corpse. 

He can’t help but kiss his boyfriend as the man hands over the ice creams and they head outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, finishing this chapter the morning it needs to be posted? It's more likely than you think  
> I'm so busy with school rn that I may have to take a hiatus at some point... I'm gonna try and push it back until after this fic ends, so hopefully it won't affect anyone! If you want to get updates on that you should follow my tumblr :3 I'm also gonna post some prompts there for my birthday so it's worth checking out ;)
> 
> Anyway, next week we're back to your regularly scheduled blupjeans! (Probably. I haven't started writing that chapter yet.)


	21. Chapter 21

Lup’s  _ fairly  _ confident  Taako’s not here.

Of course, she’d been fairly confident on the last two dates she’d been on, too, and he’d showed up to fuck everything up, but, when she retraces her steps, she can’t imagine how her dick of a brother could possibly have followed her.

She’d got the bus, and she’s absolutely certain he couldn’t have followed her there. Unless he’d dressed up as that old lady, but that seems unlikely (although not impossible). Then she’d walked to this restaurant, checking over her shoulder every step of the way, just to make sure, and when she’d got  here she’d checked his find my phone to make sure he hadn’t left home. And, sure enough, his phone places him squarely in his bedroom.

So she’s  _ fairly  _ confident he’s not showing up, but it’s  Taako , so who fucking knows. Honestly, at this point, she’d probably just confess all and kiss Barry anyway, especially since she’s half-sure that  Taako already knows and is only doing it to cockblock her. But it’d be a crime to let  Barry’s  cute face go  unkissed for  _ another  _ date, and Lup’s too pretty for jail, so...

She walks into the restaurant and spies Barry at the bar. It’s posh, the kind of place she imagines rich people go to eat lobster or whatever, but she’d wanted to push the boat out a little. And, well, if she got some vouchers from a magazine, would that be so bad?

He’s wearing a tux and looking supremely uncomfortable, but he perks up when he sees her walk in. She gives him a little wave as she crosses the restaurant to stand next to him, placing a hand on his arm. “How’s it going,  Bluejeans ? No sign of  Taako ?”

He chuckles, shaking his head. “Not yet, but the night’s still young. Let’s not  jinx it.”

“Fair,” she agrees. “You got us a table ready?”

“I do,” he says. “Just waiting on our drinks and I’ll show you.”

She leans back against the bar and looks around the restaurant. It’s full of people, the hushed hubbub of conversation gently filling the room. It’s far too posh for  Taako , who’d think the aura was yucky. That makes her feel a little better, until she thinks that actually he’d maybe come just to make fun of the people who eat here, and that he reads the same magazines as she does, so he might’ve seen the same vouchers...

Nope! That’s it, she decides. No more  Taako thinking.  Tonight she’s  gonna have a good time with her fuckin’ boyfriend, no brothers allowed.

The bartender finally passes their drinks over the counter. Barry grabs both and clears his throat to rouse her from her thoughts. “Ready?” He asks, and she nods.

“Ready for our third first date? Yeah,” she says, a wry smile on her face. “Third time’s the charm, right?”

“Gods, I hope so,” Barry says, a grim look on his face. “I’ve prepared Hold Person.  Y’know , just in case.”

She has to giggle at the idea of Barry hexing  Taako , but she knows he’s only half-joking. “Honestly, you have my blessing. If he shows up... I mean, I was  gonna use Power Word Kill so he should be grateful to you for using something nonlethal.”

“We could be the new Bonnie and Clyde,” he says. “I’d run from cops for you, Loopy.”

“ Awww ,” she grins. “That’s genuinely cute.”

“Yeah, well, ACAB, right? Wouldn’t take much to push me over the edge,” he says, and she can’t help herself squawking with laughter as they arrive at the table. It’s at the very edge of the room, with a couch bolted to the wall and chairs opposite it, a single spotlight hanging down from the ceiling illuminating the otherwise dark corner of the room.

She slides onto the couch, and he goes to sit on the chair opposite. “Hey, where are you going?” She asks, a sly grin on her lips. “Come slide in over here. If you think I’m not  gonna take any excuse to cuddle up -”

He flushes, but tucks the chair back under and slips in next to her. She puts her hand in his. “See? This is way fuckin’ better.”

He nods. “You’re right. It definitely is.”

She twists in her chair to place a hand on his shoulder, and he suppresses a smile as he gets the message and turns to kiss her. It’s just as good as the first few times, and Lup feels like she’s sailing away on a cloud. “You’re insatiable,” Barry says, with a little smile.

“I don’t know what you mean,” she says. “We agreed that was our first kiss, remember? All the others don’t count.”

“Shit, you’re right,” Barry nods. “Well, uh – I mean, in that case, we’d better have another. If it’s taken us four years to get one kiss I  wanna get another in quick before the next half-decade of celibacy happens.”

She giggles and leans in again for a kiss that’s definitely not restaurant-appropriate. His hand cradles her cheek, hers braces her against his chest, and there’s just generally a lot of tongues and stuff. Finally, with a frankly disgusting noise, they separate, a huge blush consuming Barry’s face as a grin spreads across Lup’s.

“Fuck,” he mutters. “This - this is a posh restaurant, we  gotta stop doing that.”

She shrugs. “As I remember it, you started it.”

“I did, didn’t I?” He says, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. “This is what happens when you make me sit next to you. I can’t help myself, you’re just too cute.”

“Hey!” She can feel herself blushing. “Don’t - you’re the cute one. Lookin’ all blushy and shit.”

“Hate to tell you this, Lup, but you’re looking pretty blushy yourself.”

“Trick of the light,” she says, waving her hand dismissively. “You’ll have to try harder than that to make me blush.”

He raises an eyebrow, slowly, and she rolls her eyes. “Not right now, dingus. When we’re not in a fancy restaurant.”

He laughs and grabs up his menu. “The - there’ll be a waiter here soon, and I don’t want to have to say  _ sorry, I was too busy kissing my girlfriend to look, can you come back?” _

“They’d understand when they see how cute you are,” she says, but picks up her own menu. The names of foods are all in fantasy French, which she can barely read. “Uh, shit, what’s snails in French again? I wanna avoid  _ those.” _

“Escargot,” he replies. “There’s, uh – there's an English translation underneath.”

She squints. In the darkness of the restaurant and with the tiny font they’d chosen, she’d missed it. “Oh. Whoops.”

He chuckles, and they both peer at the tiny lettering in silence for a second. “You, uh, see anything you like?” He asks, and she hums.

“Yeah, I mean – I don’t want calamari, or anything, but I don’t just  wanna get salad either,” she says. “Maybe fish. Or a fancy salad.”

“I was thinking a steak,” he replies. “I mean, I  wanna get something posh but not too posh. I – you know I don’t have the most adventurous tastebuds.”

She nods. “Well, you haven’t asked them if they do mac and cheese yet, so we’re off to a good start.”

He frowns good-naturedly. “Everyone does mac and cheese, Lup. It’s a perfectly valid option.”

“We were at Fantasy McDonald’s,” she grins. “ Taako ordered a  mcchicken , I had a big mac, and you went up like,  _ hey, do you guys do mac and cheese?” _

“It’s not like I was sober at the time,” he says, a rueful smile on his face. “Anyway, they  _ should  _ do mac and cheese. They could call it the  mcmac and cheese. Wait – forget I said that. This is the idea that’ll make me a billionaire when I pitch it to the CEO of McDonalds.”

“Ronald,” she says. “Mr. McDonald was his father.”

“Should I wear a business suit or a clown outfit?” He says, straight-faced. “I want to make a good impression, after all.”

She hums, thoughtfully tapping her chin. “Business formal, with a jacket and a tie and everything, but with clown shoes and a red nose.”

“You know, I'm sure I’ve seen that guy on Fantasy The Apprentice,” he says.

“Uh, yeah, his name is Donald Trump,” Lup says, the straight-faced façade she’s maintained finally cracking as they both laugh.

A waiter coughs, politely, from the other side of the table, and they both look round. Lup somehow feels like a kid with her hand in the cookie jar even as the waiter smiles politely. “Have you made a decision?” He asks.

She’s worked enough customer service to know a Customer Service Voice when she hears one, so she smiles and says, “yeah, I’ll have the chicken and bacon avocado salad.”

Barry nods. “Uh, yeah, yeah, a steak please. Medium rare.”

The waiter nods, scoops up the menus, and walks off. Lup melts into Barry, holding his hand under the table. “This is really nice,” she mumbles. “Finally.”

“Yeah, it is,” he agrees, pressing a kiss into her hair. “Finally.”

“You know,” she says. “We have to make up for lost time. We could’ve been doing this for four years. And, like, our dissertations are due, soon, and after that we’ve got exams and then we’re free – we have to make the most of it.”

He nods. “Of course. You and  Taako are moving to Neverwinter, right? I – I mean, I’m not sure what I’m doing, yet, but - I mean, you  guys’ll have room, right? I can even sleep on the couch -”

She snorts. “Bear, in what world would you be sleeping on the couch and not next to me?”

“I didn’t want to be presumptuous!” He protests. “You know, in case we’re not at that stage in our relationship by then -”

“Bear, we just said we were  gonna make up for lost time,  m’dude ,” she says, smiling teasingly at his flustered face. “Anyway, we managed to sleep together that one time before and not jump  each other's bones.”

He mumbles something, and she leans in. “Huh?”

“I said, I wanted to,” he repeats, the blush on his cheeks only deepening.

“Fuck, Bear, are you kidding? I wanted to as well, jeez,” she says, patting his hand. “You were lying there all cute and shit – I mean, fuck, you’re adorable. I could hear your heart beating real fast -”

“Oh, gods, I forgot about your hearing,” he says, aghast. “How often did we have conversations where my heart was just beating really fast for no reason?”

“Uh, when we first met any time I’d touch you your heart rate would spike to, like, two hundred beats per minute,” she admits. “I thought you were just an anxious person so I tried to give you some space.”

“ Oh my fucking gods,” he mumbles, burying his head in his hands. “That’s so embarrassing.”

“What, that you had a crush on the frankly gorgeous elf who eventually became your girlfriend?” She asks. “C’mon, babe, that’s fine. You’re all good. Anyways, you must’ve noticed how often I made excuses to hang out with you. Like the time you were going to Refuge’s library to get out that specific nerd book, and I said I’d come with?”

He cocks his head. “You know, I didn’t even question that?”

She laughs. “Babe, that’s, like, a two-hour train journey. You thought I was going just for fun?”

“I thought you wanted a day trip! With a friend!”

“Uh huh, just regular friends,” she says, drily. “Just two dudes going on a six-hour round trip together. Five feet apart, cos they’re not gay.”

“Listen,” he says. “Listen.”

“I’m listening,” she grins.

“You could literally  _ hear my heartbeat,  _ babe, you’ve got no grounds to make fun of me,” he says, scowling good-naturedly. “C’mon.”

“Okay, yeah, you’re right,” she says. “But, uh, at least we got there eventually?”

“Eventually,” he agrees. “And - you know, it was all worth it.”

“Aww,” she says. “Sap.”

And she leans in to kiss him again, laying one on his cheek. He blushes and she laughs, because that’s  _ adorable _ .

“I - I can’t believe you can hear my heart beating,” he says. “I - wow, I’m glad I didn’t think of that, I’d probably have had a panic attack thinking about it and trying to keep my heart rate under control.”

“Babe, honestly, your heart could’ve been beating out the morse code for  _ I love you  _ and I still wouldn’t have understood,” she replies. “We were idiots. I was so convinced -”

“Oh, me too,” he agrees. “ Taako kept telling me that you were into me. I thought – well, I mean, you know you’re gorgeous, you don’t need me to tell you -”

“Doesn’t hurt,” she smiles, squeezing his hand. “Anyway, you’re not so bad yourself, babe, c’mon.”

He chuckles. “Yeah, just – I don’t know, I never really thought we’d get here. But – well, now that we are  here, I’m not letting go. I’m in this for the long haul.”

She nods, seriously. “Me neither, Bear. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Hopefully future dates don’t have to be somewhere so posh,” he says, pulling at the collar of his button-down shirt. “I miss my jeans.”

“You look good, though,” she purrs. “Formal Barry is hot.” He flushes again and looks away, embarrassedly, and she giggles. “I can’t believe I’ve been missing out on teasing you for so long. You’re so cute.”

If anything, his blush deepens. “Coming from you,” he mumbles. “I - I mean, shit, there’s a reason I didn’t think you were into me. You’re just – you're amazing, Lup, you’re so beautiful and funny and – wow, fuck, you were intimidating. You and  Taako kind of just adopted me into your group but I was fucking terrified of you for ages because, like, fuck. I couldn’t imagine ever being able to hold a conversation with you without just being utterly awestruck.”

Her mouth has dropped open, slightly, as he’d said that, and she’s been left a little speechless.

“Anyway,” he says, looking away, but she frowns and puts her hand on his cheek to rotate his face back towards her.

“You never needed to be intimidated,” she says, softly. “Bear, you’re the kindest and most intelligent man I’ve ever met and I think you’re  _ very  _ attractive. And, uh, honestly, you know I’m coming back to your place after this, right? If you’ll have me.”

His eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “I - uh, I, yeah, okay,” he squeaks, and she laughs.

“See? Cute.”

Before she can capitalise on his adorable flustered face, though, the waiter arrives back with their food, and she has to settle for a quick wink and a grin before they dig in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey yall hope you had a good week! I was mostly writing an essay, but I'm done for a few weeks now so hopefully I'll be able to get some chapters done before my next essays come due... Anyways! They finally had a date! Without Taako! Thank god! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, thank you for reading, see you next week <3


	22. Chapter 22

“What’s the magical flux ratio on a typical fireball?” Barry asks, and Lup winces and chews her lip. 

“Uh, shit,” she starts. “Twelve? Twelve per cent?” 

He chuckles. “Well, the question says _answer to two decimal places,_ so probably not.” 

“Fuck,” she says, rifling through her notes. “I should know this. Don’t tell me.” 

“Twenty-eight point eight three,” Taako says, from where he’s lazing on the couch. His eyes don’t even open. 

Lup scowls. In her defence, she’d been distracted by Barry’s hand in hers. She’d known that. It’d been right on the tip of her tongue. 

“Fuck off,” she says. “I knew that.” 

“You _did_ say twelve,” Barry reminds her, and she turns her frown on him. 

“This is bullying,” she says. “I’m being ganged up on. Anyway, how the fuck do you know that, goofus?” 

Taako cracks an eye and squints at her. She quickly drops Barry’s hand before Taako sees, trying to innocuously shuffle aside. “Uh, cha’boy’s a natural genius.” 

She blinks at him, her expression not changing, before she turns to Barry. “Barry, how did he know that?” She demands. 

Barry looks across at Taako, but Taako gives him a threatening look. “Guess he really is just a natural genius,” Barry shrugs. 

Lup scowls. “Bullshit. You asked him that one while I was in the bathroom, didn’t you?” 

“I plead the fifth,” Barry says, holding his hands up in surrender under matching angry glares, but the grin on his face gives him away. 

Taako’s eyes shut again. He’s insistent that he’s too cool for an exam prep session with the “two biggest nerds on campus” but he’d arrived, made a big deal about being tired and wanting to sleep, and then listened intently every time Barry had read out a useful piece of information. Lup’s not gonna complain, though, because every time he shuts his eyes she can hold Barry’s hand discreetly, and why wouldn’t she want that? Speaking of... 

She snakes her hand across to find Barry’s, grinning as his fingers loop around hers. “Okay, Bear, gimme another question,” she says, trying to keep the lovestruck tone out of her voice for Taako’s benefit. 

“What’s the thaumatological coefficient of -” 

Taako groans and sits up. Lup quickly drops Barry’s hand. 

“I’m outtie,” Taako says. “This is the most boring shit I’ve ever heard. You guys don’t even do revision shots? Fuckin’ yawn.” 

“Revision shots?” Barry mutters to himself. “What the fuck does that mean?” 

“Taako, the last time we did revision shots we both failed because we were still hungover by the time of the exam, three days later,” Lup reminds him. “I’d quite like to pass my fucking finals, actually.” 

“Yawn,” Taako repeats. “I’m goin’ upstairs.” 

And he flounces out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Barry looks utterly bemused. “Lup, what the fuck is a revision shot?” 

“Drinking game,” she says, as if it’s obvious. “Every time you get a trivia question wrong, you take a shot. But it always goes badly because by the end you’re getting _every_ question wrong and Taako likes to cheat by transmuting his shots into water.” 

Barry nods, with a face like he’s considering it. 

“Barold, I won’t let you,” she says. “You’d definitely sleep through your alarm and miss the exam, or something. You can’t hold your alcohol at all.” 

He shrugs. “Sounds like fun though. And if I’m gonna fail why not do it in style?” 

“You are not gonna fail,” she rolls her eyes. “You’re the biggest nerd I know. Pluuus, if you fail, you won’t be able to go to Neverwinter U with me ‘n’ Ko, so we won’t be able to live together.” 

She gives an exaggerated wink, and he flushes. “Yeah, that’s some good motivation,” he says. “I would – yeah. I’d like that.” 

She grins. “Uh, ch’yeah, I’d hope so.” 

She looks back down at her papers, for a second, shuffling through to find something she’s not so confident about in the syllabus. “Here, what about – what? What’s up?” 

She’d looked back up to find he has a weird look on his face, but as she asks that he shakes his head. “Nothing, no – nothing. It’s fine.” 

She frowns at him, but he gives a little nervous grin. “Baaaarry,” she purrs. “Don’t make me force it out of you.” 

“It’s - it’s fine! Really,” he says. 

She slinks a little closer. “Final warning, Bluejeans,” she says, a predatory grin on her face. He tries to lean away, but she pounces, plonking herself down in his lap and pinning him down. “You’d better tell me,” she says, in a sing-song voice. 

He’s looking very nervous, now, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. “Lup, really -” 

Before he can even finish, she jabs at his sides with her fingers and he’s howling with laughter, trying to push her off, but she’s relentless, jabbing at all his soft spots with pinpoint precision until he’s melting beneath her. 

Finally, she pauses her assault, and grins down at him. “Will you surrender?” 

“I yield,” he wheezes. “I yield, I’ll tell you everything.” 

She leans back but doesn’t get off his lap. “Go ahead, Bear.” 

He takes a second to regain his composure, wiping his streaming eyes and panting for breath. 

“I don’t know,” he says. “Just - it’s not long ‘til we’ll have to start looking for somewhere in Neverwinter. And – okay, it’s not like I have any reservations, because I – because I wanna be with you, and living with you sounds like a dream, but -” 

She grimaces. “Aw. I feel bad for tickling it out of you now I know it’s serious.” 

“No, it’s - it’s fine,” he chuckles. “You were right, I should tell you. It’s just – I don’t know, it seems fast.” 

She takes his hands. “Bear, we absolutely don’t have to. We could find you an apartment on your own and you could just stay over as often as you wanted. Or I could stay with you. That might even be better, because then we wouldn’t have to cast silence whenever my brother has Kravitz over -” 

He thinks about it, for a second, and shakes his head. “No, no, I think – I think this is right. This feels right. I don’t know why I’m nervous.” 

“No, I get it!” She protests. “This is all happening quickly, I – I understand. But, Bear, we’ve been best friends for four years. If we were gonna get sick of each other, it would’ve happened by now, right?” 

He nods. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.” He pauses a second. “As always.” 

“Damn right,” she grins, and leans in for a brief kiss. “Is there anything I can do to make you happier about it? The whole living with me and Ko thing?” 

"Just - I don’t know, Taako doesn’t even know yet. And I know it’s silly, like, we know he approves, but -” 

Lup cocks her head for a second, and then turns to yell. “Taako! Get down here!” 

“Oh my gods,” Barry mutters. “Really?” 

They hear Taako stomp down the stairs, and Lup turns back to Barry. “You want him to know? It’s not too late for me to make up an excuse.” 

Barry’s blushing too hard to formulate a response, so Lup takes the lead. “I’m gonna tell him. He needs to know at some point, right?” He manages a nod, and Lup grins. “Fuck yeah.” 

The door slams open, and Taako opens his mouth to say something, but he stops dead when he sees Lup perched in Barry’s lap. 

“What’s up, Ko,” she says. “We’re together now. That cool?” 

“About time,” Taako grunts. 

“Aw, you’re happy for us really,” Lup grins. 

“About time you admitted it, I mean. Why’d you think I went upstairs, you disgusting, lovesick idiots? I got sick of you two trying to subtly hold hands.” 

Lup blushes almost as red as Barry, and Taako laughs. “Hey, seriously though, I’m glad for you. Lup, don’t break Barry’s heart or I’ll kill you, yeah?” 

“Hey!” She protests as the door swings shut behind him. “Why do I get the shovel talk? Taako, I’m your sister, why am I getting the shovel talk?” She calls it after him as he goes back upstairs, cackling the whole way. 

“Oh my gods,” Barry says, clearly mortified. “I really thought we were being stealthy.” 

She shrugs. “At least Ko knows now. We don’t have to worry about him walking in while we’re making out any more.” 

“I - I’m still worried about that, Loopy,” he says, and aw, he’s adorable when he’s embarrassed. 

“Babe, I’ll just throw stuff at him ‘til he goes away. It’s all good,” she says, but for some reason he doesn’t look much happier. “Fine, fine, I’ll get a lock for my door.” 

“Thank you,” he says, finally laughing, and she leans in to kiss him again, safe in the knowledge that Taako is upstairs. 

“We really should do some studying, huh,” he says. “Although I do like the idea of having some shots first.” 

“Hmmm, but I’ve got this very distracting boyfriend right here,” she says. “How am I meant to get any studying done?” 

He barks a surprised laugh and looks away as his cheeks flush, but she just leans into him, resting her head on his shoulder. “I love you,” she says, while she can’t get a good look at his face. “I - you just said we were moving too fast, I know, I'm sorry, but – fuck, you make me feel so comfortable, like I can be myself, without pretending, and – yeah. I’m sorry. You don’t have to say it back, if you’re not ready –” 

“I love you too,” he says, his arms snaking around her waist. “You - you’re the one who said it – we've basically been dating four years already. I mean, shit, we went out on candlelit dinners and everything, like -” 

She nods. “No, I feel the same! We’ve - it’s been, like, two weeks, but it’s been longer since we had our first kiss – not the official one, I mean, the one we’re not counting – and it’s been even longer than that since I started thinking about it -” 

He grins. “Oh yeah? When did you start thinking about it?” 

She scowls at him playfully. “Don’t - you can’t make fun of me for this.” 

“Cross my heart,” he says, holding up the wrong hand to his chest. 

“Since, like, a week after I met you. You spilled coffee down yourself and you were like, _aw, this was my best shirt,_ but the shirt had a picture of Garfield on the front and it said “don’t talk to me about Mondays.” The image of that – that being your best shirt? It fucking absolutely cracked me up, and I was still thinking about it like two weeks later and that was when I realised. I, uh, I kept thinking it’d go away and it never did.” She laughs. “It wasn’t even Monday. It was like, Thursday.” 

He turns red but laughs anyway. “I - I still have that shirt, even with coffee stains. It’s - it’s comfy!” 

“Okay, c’mon, fess up,” she giggles. “I told you now you tell me.” 

“I - okay, c’mon, you’re stunning, I had a crush the moment I met you,” he says, and she swats at him. 

“No, c’mon, when did you really realise?” 

“Okay, uh... I cried about failing an exam one time and you came and sat with me for, like, twenty minutes. You didn’t even say anything but you put your arm around me and – yeah. It was only afterwards that I thought about it and I realised that I was, y’know, head over heels.” 

She gives an _awww_ _._ “Your story is way sweeter than mine, huh?” 

“No, no, I like yours,” he laughs. “The Garfield shirt was good. I’ll wear it to our next date.” 

“I’ll buy you a new one for your birthday,” she says. “I’ll get you a whole outfit of Garfield gear.” 

He shakes his head. “I shouldn’t have ever worn that shirt.” 

“It’s cute!” She insists. “It’s funny.” 

“I love you,” he says, and she grins. 

“Fuck yeah,” she agrees, enjoying the endorphin high of hearing him say those words. “I love you too.” 

“When we go to Neverwinter,” he says. ”We’ll have to look at some places to stay. Two-bed apartments, right? If we’re all gonna live together?” 

“Ooh, house shopping, you’re right. Bring up – get up a property app and we can have a look now,” she says, sliding off his lap to sit beside him and see his phone. 

It’s only a couple of taps before he’s a webpage open, and he’s keying in NEVERWINTER in the search box. He selects two-beds and hits go. 

“This one looks nice,” he says. “Wait, how much do you guys pay for rent here?” 

“Uh, a thousand a month,” she says. “We can’t really afford any more than that, but it’ll be split four ways. I’m assuming Ko is gonna move Kravitz in, I haven’t spoken to him about it -” 

Barry scrolls past some luxury apartments at the top, far out of their price range, and settles on some lower down. “What about this one? Two beds, one bath -” She pulls a face, and he stops. “What’s up?” 

“Uh, unless you want to be waiting for Taako to get out of the shower every morning it’d be better to get two bathrooms,” she says. “Which, I know, is gonna be more expensive, but -” 

“We can look!” He reassures her. 

“Nice,” she grins, and presses a kiss to his cheek. “Me and Ko don’t really mind so long as it’s got a nice kitchen. That’s our big want. What about you? What do you need?” 

He hums. “Uh, somewhere to work. I know you and Ko use your laptops in bed, but – I gotta have a desk. Here, what about this one?” 

He taps on a two-bedroom apartment. It’s nicely decorated, spacious, and only slightly above their budget. “Aw shit,” she says. “Look, it’s a fifty-minute walk from the university.” 

“That’s not – it's not the _worst,”_ he says, but she gives him a look and he laughs. “Okay, okay, you’re right. We can find somewhere else.” 

“This one?” She suggests. “It’s got a big closet – it’ll fit all your new Garfield shirts nicely.” 

He laughs and closes it. “Okay, add _small closet_ to my list of wants.” 

“Aw, that one was nice,” she says. 

“Yeah, but the bedrooms shared a wall,” he says. “So, uh, if Taako and Kravitz -” 

“Okay, I’m gonna stop you there,” she interrupts. “Don’t finish that thought. I understand.” 

He laughs at her mock-scowling face, and she can’t help but chuckle too. 

“We should probably talk to Taako and Kravitz before we do this,” Barry says, idling scrolling through the listings. “I’m sure Kravitz’ll be easy to deal with, but Taako seems as though he’d have a whole laundry list of wants.” 

She shakes her head. “That’s why we aren’t talking to Taako before we do this,” she says. “It was bad enough finding this place. He wanted somewhere near the ice rink so he could skate. Do you know how many fucking times he’s been to the ice rink to skate? Not a single fucking time.” 

Barry laughs. “At least this place is near me?” He offers. 

“Bear, the other place we were looking at had a coffee machine,” she says. “Not a day goes by when I don’t think about that coffee machine. And it was closer to school. Listen, no offence, but if I could trade my half-hour commute for a ten-minute commute, I’d move further away from you in a heartbeat.” 

“Damn,” he says, mock-sadly. “Tell me how you really feel.” 

“No, I mean, I love my Bear,” she says. “I just hate walking, and you come here more often than I go there, so -” She presses a kiss to his scowling lips and feels his expression melt. “I love you,” she says, for the third time. 

“I love you too,” he replies, and her heart soars just as much as it had the first two. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone :3 hope you enjoyed this chapter!! Today I'm thinking about this stock market gamestop thing. I thought it was funny as fuck that they got scammed, because that's normally what they do to other people, but now they're all going on tv and crying about it??? "wah wah we've got away with defrauding the economy for decades and now reddit is laughing at us" shut the fuck up clown baby
> 
> Anyways. Thank you for reading <3 like me, Barry and Lup have exams coming up that they are procrastinating doing any work for so we will See How That Goes!! Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this chapter!!


	23. Chapter 23

“So, the thaumatological coeffiecient of the spell is three hundred, but the flux ratio is -” 

“Fuck,” Lup whispers in Barry's ear. “There’s somehow even more maths in magic now.” 

Barry chuckles. “That’s, uh, that's really what you signed up for, Lup.” 

“I hoped it’d be different at master’s level,” she replies. “Somehow. I thought we’d accept that the maths was all bullshit and we could just talk about how rad magic is.” 

“I actually think they save that for Ph.D. students,” Barry jokes. 

“I hope so,” she says, turning back to the lecturer. She seems cool, young and interesting enough that despite the in-depth mathematics Lup’s not totally tuned out, and she finds herself hoping that she’ll be assigned to some of her classes, should they get accepted to Neverwinter. 

“What do you think?” Barry whispers. “Does this place live up to your expectations?” 

She gives a vague noise of agreement. “Yeah, it’s nice. This place has cushioned seats, which is a definite upgrade.” 

Barry laughs, remembering the hard, wooden benches of Phandolin. “True, but I’m gonna be falling asleep on these. They’re too comfy.” 

She leans back, testing the bounciness to squishiness ratio, and shuts her eyes. “Oh, fuck, you’re right,” she says. “Especially if we’ve got class early in the morning. Shit.” 

“Coffee,” Barry says, decisively. “I keep promising I’ll wean myself off caffeine, but I’m gonna turn into a narcoleptic if I do.” 

“It’s so warm in here, too,” she moans. “Why would you even put the idea in my head? Now all I can think about is how tired I am.” She snuggles up against him, resting her head on his shoulder. “And how great of a cuddle buddy I have.” 

He jabs her in her side, just below the ribs, and she has to bite down on the shriek that wells up in her throat. “Hey!” 

“If you do that we’ll both fall asleep,” he tells her with a grin. “What a great first impression that'd be for our new lecturer – us both out cold after everyone else has left?” 

She grumbles good-naturedly. “Fine, fine, I’ll keep these cuddles to myself. And I’m not telling you any more of my ticklish spots, either, now I know you’re gonna use them against me.” 

“You have _more_ ticklish spots?” He grins, deviously, and her face falls. 

“No?” She tries, utterly transparently, but he just laughs. 

“I’ll find ‘em. Just you wait,” he says. 

“Can’t believe I waited four years for this,” she grumbles. “I wanna go back to pining.” 

“No you don’t,” he laughs. 

“No I don’t,” she agrees, and leans over for a quick peck on the lips. “I love you.” 

“I love you too,” he says, threading their fingers together. 

They both quiet down for a minute and listen to the lecture (probably much to the relief of the people sat behind them.) “I bet Taako will tell me where you’re ticklish,” Barry says. 

“He’d better not,” she says. “This is mutually assured destruction at its finest, babe, and I have the intercontinental ballistic missile that is his ticklish knees aimed square at Kravitz.” 

He scowls. “Shit, you’re right. His self-preservation will definitely outweigh his Cain instinct. I’ll just have to find them myself, applying the scientific method. Hypothesis: Lup’s armpits are ticklish. Experiment - “ 

“Don’t,” she cautions him, leaning away. “Not unless you wanna get thrown out, because I will start howling.” 

“Filing that information for later,” he says, and she scowls. 

“Do you know how fucking unfair it is that you aren’t ticklish? This is bullying. I’m being bullied.” 

“Is it bullying if you’re in love with the bully?” 

“Fantasy Stockholm syndrome,” Lup replies, deadpan. 

“Fuck, you’re right,” Barry replies. “You got me there.” 

There’s a sudden bustle as everyone else starts to stand, putting away their laptops and notepads, and they both look around, mystified. “Uh oh,” Lup says, “we definitely missed something.” 

The crowd shuffles towards the exit, and Barry and Lup hurry to pack their things away to follow them. “Where’s everyone going?” Lup asks a random bystander. “We weren’t paying attention.” 

The guy laughs. “They’re taking us on tours of the campus.” 

“Thanks,” she says, turning back to Barry. “Nice. I wanna see the library, uh, the labs – what else?” 

“Other lecture halls? This could be the nice one,” he says. “Maybe the others are all garbo, so they stick the newbies in here to impress ‘em.” 

Lup nods. “That’s a good point. Do we, uh, do you wanna go on a tour? I kinda feel like ditching and finding our own way.” 

Barry chuckles. “I mean, yeah, if you want. I feel like we’re pretty much guaranteed to get lost, though.” 

“How hard can it be?” She shrugs. “Like you said, they’re only gonna show us the nice stuff. This way we can see a little behind the scenes.” 

“Do you, uh, have a map, or anything?” He tries, but she gives a dismissive _pshaw_ noise. 

“Maps are for cowards,” she says. “You know what they say about navigating university buildings – stick to the left wall.” 

“I feel like that’s mazes,” he says. “Is that applicable to buildings?” 

She waves a hand dismissively. “Where’s your sense of adventure? Don’t you wanna find, like, buried pirate treasure?” 

He shakes his head and sighs, a smile on his lips, and Lup can tell she’s getting through to him. “Fine,” he relents, finally. “I hope you’ve got a shovel, though, for when we find that X marking the spot.” 

“Uh, you know cha’gal’s always ready to dig up treasure. C’mon,” she says, acting very confident. “We’ll go this way.” 

“That’s - Lup, that’s right,” Barry says. “You just said to hug the left wall – Lup, you’re not even following your own advice.” 

“Barry. Bear. Bluejay. You should know by now that I never take my own advice.” 

He can’t refute that. “True.” 

She finds herself in an unfamiliar corridor, and peeks through a window into a classroom. “Hmm,” she says. “Looks nice enough. Look, they’ve got more comfy chairs, though. Falling asleep is gonna be a real issue.” 

“Do they have coffee shops on-campus?” He asks. “Lup, this is pretty make-or-break for me. If there’s nowhere to get good coffee -” 

She _hrm_ s. “That’s a good question. How good is the coffee? If it’s shit, you’re right, we might as well pack up now.” 

“Add that to the list of things we need to check out,” he says. “Library, coffee shop, labs.” 

“Honestly I feel like the coffee shop definitely comes before the library in the list,” she muses. “I can manage a shitty library, but bad coffee could sink my grade.” 

“True, true – oh! Look,” he points out a sign on the wall. It’s got a number of entries with arrows pointing in different directions, but the most important one is labs, with the arrow pointing to the left. “This way.” 

“Oh, hold on,” she says, pointing at a different entry. “The watering hole. Sounds like a coffee shop, right? Do you wanna grab something to drink first?” 

“Oh, yeah, sure,” he agrees. “Good idea.” 

They head down towards the café. It’s outside the main building, set on the beautiful green surrounding the university. It’s a good first impression, but Lup won’t be truly impressed until she’s got some caffeine in her system. She begrudgingly nods at the menu, awarding it a few points for how many good options there are. 

Barry orders one black coffee, and Lup gets a strawberry frappuccino. They flop down on the couch next to each other, hip-to-hip. Barry looks pretty happy with his drink, and Lup’s got to admit that even her discerning tastebuds are satisfied. “Alright,” she says, “the coffee’s pretty good.” 

He nods, happily. “Yep. The rest of the campus could be a steaming mess, now, and I’d still want to come.” 

“It’s nice, right?” She says, a smile on her face. “The campus, I mean. It’s - everything’s kinda perfect. It’s so beautiful, and I get to be with you, and Taako’s got Kravitz – everything's turning out like we dreamed as kids. We’re even gonna share an apartment in the city with our boyfriends.” 

“Aw,” Barry looks like he doesn’t know what to say to that. “That’s - I’m really glad you’re happy with it. Lup, honestly, so long as you’re happy – even if the coffee shop had been terrible, if you’d liked it I’d have been happy.” 

“You’re so soft,” she says, taking a sip from her mug to hide her goofy grin. “You fuckin’ sap.” 

He shakes his head, grinning himself. “Says the one who just told me she dreamed of this.” 

“Okay, okay, fine,” she says. “But I’m only sappy for you. Because you’re my dream guy.” 

He’s already flushed, and it only deepens as she says that. “Jeez, Lup,” he mumbles. 

“You already knew that,” she grins, teasingly. “C’mon, you’ve got a rockin’ bod, you’re cute as fuck, sweet, funny -” 

He nudges his shoulder against hers. “Stop or I’ll combust,” he says. “C’mon, I can’t handle this.” 

“I’m gonna keep saying it ‘til you believe it, babe,” she says. 

He just shakes his head, still flushed, so she leans over and presses a kiss to his cheek. “You’re everything I’ve ever wanted,” she says, resting her head on his shoulder. “You, Barry Bluejeans, are a catch.” 

He leans into the sideways cuddle, resting his own head atop hers. Just months ago, Lup would’ve called this a disgusting display of PDA, but now she can’t get enough. She’d be grossed out if she weren’t so head over heels. “I love you,” he says. 

“I love you too.” 

They drain their mugs and head back across the lawn, into the main university building. “Okay, labs,” Lup says. “They’re meant to have just recently renovated, right? So they should be good.” 

“I hope so,” he says. “I mean, we’re gonna be spending most of our time here, right? If they’re shit it’s gonna be – well, not ideal. Even with the good coffee.” 

“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” she says, as they head up a flight of stairs. “Everything else has been nice.” 

“Yeah,” he agrees, as they come to the labs. “You’re right. It has been nice. It’s - it’s kinda perfect, like you were saying.” 

He pauses for a minute. “I’m really – Lup, being with you makes it perfect. I – I came to Phandolin not expecting to make any friends. I – you know, I’m anxious and awkward and nerdy – and when you started talking to me, you – you thought I had weed, for some fuckin’ reason, and I thought like, _oh great, she’s_ _gonna_ _make fun of me so much._ And you did, but, like, in a good way. I’m getting off-track here, but listen, I love you. That’s it, basically.” 

“I love you too, babe,” she says, practically making heart eyes at him like a cartoon. “You - I get it. I didn’t expect you to be my type either. Y’know, like... You were such a nerd, babe. _Such_ a nerd. Do you remember you had those thick-rimmed glasses -” 

“Oh, fuck, I’d forgotten about those,” he groans. “They were awful. Absolutely awful.” 

“No, no, they were cute! Just, cute in a nerdy way,” she insists. “I - you always look cute.” 

“Back then... I couldn’t believe how loud you were,” he says, and she squawks in protest. 

“After all the nice things I said about you!” She says, trying to keep a mock-angry face but not able to prevent herself laughing. 

“No, no, I mean – I meant that you were confident!” he says. “You - you and Taako were so self-assured and funny and -” 

“Natch,” she says. “I’m pretty great. But, listen, my favourite thing about now-Barry as opposed to Barry back then is that you’re more confident. Back then I’d tease you and you’d stammer and blush and -” 

“Uh, yeah, I had a fucking _huge_ crush,” he says. “You try being cool around a girl who’s, like, absolutely drop-dead gorgeous.” 

“I manage it every day around you,” she says, and he’s left stammering at her turnabout. 

“Hey, that – that's not fair! You can’t turn things around on me like that,” he protests. 

“Oh, hey!” She says, her attention immediately elsewhere. “Finally. Look.” 

Barry peeks through the window set into the door Lup was peering through. “Ooh,” he says. “I don’t even know what half that stuff does.” 

She giggles. “Me neither. I think – is that a quantum thaumoscope?” 

He squints. “Oh, yeah, I think you’re right! It must be the new model; I didn’t even know they’d brought that out yet -” 

“Fuck,” she whispers. “It’s amazing. Babe, we have to go here, I think I’m in love with their magic labs.” 

He laughs. “They’re - wow, yeah, they’re pretty great. This is, like, what you’d get if you worked in R&D.” 

“Do you think breaking in and using their equipment is a good way to get expelled before we even get officially accepted?” 

Barry chuckles, shaking his head. “Almost certainly, as much as I want to.” 

“Awww,” she says. “The things I could do with a molecular quibbler that size...” 

He chuckles. “Yeah, I think I’m gonna supervise you when you use that thing. We don’t wanna burn down the university.” 

“I - I’m not a child,” she sulks. “I can handle a little fire. I’m a fire wizard, Barold.” 

“That’s what worries me,” he deadpans. “Anyways, the labs were a big success, huh? The only thing left on our little checklist is the library.” 

“Yeah! Let’s head over there now,” she says. “I’ll text Ko, see if he’s done with his culinary course intro. Fuck, I hope he liked it as much as we did. If he didn’t...” 

“Yeah, of course,” Barry replies, earnestly. “I’m sure the labs at Goldcliff uni are just as nice, it’s fine.” 

She smiles, relieved. “Fuck, you’re perfect,” she says. 

He laughs. “I didn’t even do anything!” 

“No, just – the fact that you’re willing to go to a different school if my shithead brother doesn’t like this one,” she says. “It’s just... I love you.” 

“I love you too,” he says, squeezing her hand. “Of course I am. I’d go to university in a shack in the woods if it meant being with you.” 

“Fuckin sap,” she says, dismissively, but sure she’s given away by the way she squeezes back. “Alright, c’mon, let’s get to that library.” 

“Wait,” he says, and she’s jerked backwards by their linked hands when he doesn’t move. “C’mere.” 

She grins and steps in close, and he presses his lips to hers in a kiss. “Okay, now we can go to the library.” 

“Sap, sap, sap,” she says, again. “I could be making maple syrup outta all this sap.” 

“Alright, alright,” he says. “You just got done waxing poetic about how perfect I am.” 

“Not the same,” she says, obstinately. “It’s different when it’s me. I’m too cool.” 

He laughs, and they head off towards the library together, hand in hand. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all :) hope you enjoyed this chapter!! It should leave this fic with 69,420 words so I can't ever update it again...
> 
> In all seriousness, there's only two chapters left! I had originally planned to go to 30, but I'm struggling to find the time and motivation to work on this atm, so I'm going down to 25. I hope everyone enjoys what I've got planned, though :3


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like the Chilean miners!! I'm sorry for my week out, y'all, but I finally got these gosh darn words to work and wrote this chapter <3 I know that I said this would be 25 but actually this is the finale! I hope you enjoy it!!!

“Wanna shoot some pool?” Taako asks, somehow managing to look guileless. 

Barry has to laugh. “Oh, come on, Taako, how long have I known you?” 

“I don’t know _what_ you mean,” the elf replies, grinning. “I just wanted a friendly game -” 

“Taako, you’ve never played a _friendly_ _game_ of pool in your life. Last time I played with you, you took my shoes and made me walk home in crocs you’d brought with you.” 

Lup and Taako guffaw. “Classic,” Taako says. 

They’ve gathered in a bar beside the Neverwinter campus. It’s a nice place, atmospheric with dim lighting and the delicious smell of something cooking wafting from the kitchen. Taako had obviously spied the pool table in the back among the tables. 

“I don’t mind playing with you, love,” Kravitz says. “Although, uh, I’m not betting my shoes.” 

Lup makes _buck-buck-buck_ noises, as Taako smirks. “Don’t think you can win?” 

“I’m almost certain I can’t,” he says. “Since I’ve never played pool before. Anyway, I know my loving boyfriend would never make me walk home barefoot.” 

“I wouldn’t bet on that, Krav,” Lup butts in before Taako can reply. “He’s cutthroat.” 

“Don’t listen to them,” Taako says, pushing Lup aside. “Krav, c’mon, what’ve you got to bet?” 

“Uh, I have – I have a dollar note, and a nickel,” Kravitz says, rummaging through his pockets. “Here’s two cents. And a pack of gum.” 

“That’s not enough, babe,” Taako grins. “You wanna buy in or not?” 

“Taako, hun, I really don’t want to play this badly. These are nice shoes.” 

“Aw, please?” Taako gives him puppydog eyes as Lup and Barry watch with bated breath. Surely, Kravitz won’t... 

“The shoes it is,” Kravitz relents, shaking his head reluctantly. “I never could say no to you. What are you giving me if I win? Is it your shoes on the line, too?” 

“You won’t,” Taako says, happily. “But sure. Shoes for shoes.” 

Barry gives Lup a look. Lup returns it. 

Kravitz had agreed far too easily, and made Taako offer up something equally embarrassing... Is the shark about to get sharked? She smirks, really hoping Kravitz is a secret prodigy. It’d be a lot of fun to watch Taako lose. 

“So,” Barry says. “What did you guys think of Neverwinter?” 

“It’s fine,” Taako says, indifferently. Kravitz rolls his eyes. 

“He liked it. He kept gushing about all their cooking equipment,” Kravitz confides in them. 

“Hey!” Taako protests. “You’re ruining my aloof persona, here, Krav, I don’t need these chucklefucks knowing I’m a nerd.” 

“Right,” Lup says. “Because we didn’t know _that_ already.” 

He flips her off without even looking. “Anyway, what about you? You practically swooned when we walked into that music hall.” 

“I - I was thinking about the acoustics! It’s an impressive room!” Kravitz protests, before changing the subject. “Love, listen, show me how to hold my cue.” 

Taako stands behind Kravitz, pressing their hips together, and shows him the hold as Kravitz exaggeratedly acts as though he’s never seen a cue in his life. Barry and Lup share another look, Lup only barely holding back the grin from her face. _Ohhh_ _, this is_ _gonna_ _be good..._

“I’m glad you liked it,” Barry says. “The magic labs are amazing. I couldn’t even name half their equipment.” 

“Yeah, and the campus coffee shop -” 

“You went to the coffee shop too?” Taako grins. “Pretty good, right? Not as good as the Davy Lamp, natch, I had to explain my whole order to them -” 

“It took, like, five minutes,” Kravitz says. “He held up the whole queue.” 

“I know what I want,” Taako shrugs, utterly unrepentant. “And what I want is a shot of cream mixed with every syrup.” 

“I can’t kiss him until he’s brushed his teeth or I’ll get second-hand cavities,” Kravitz says. “I don’t know how you aren’t more filling than bone at this point.” 

Taako leans over the table, concentrating hard on the break, so Lup takes the opportunity to jump in. “Actually, Taako’s the only one of the two of us to get a cavity. I take good care of these babies.” She’s nursing a disgustingly sugary frappuccino, but no one calls her out on her hypocrisy. “He got it when we were, like, twenty, and he whined about it for months until I pulled it out for him. Oh, it was a baby tooth,” she hurriedly amends as the other two give her horrified looks. “Elves have baby teeth until we’re, like, fifty.” 

Taako takes the shot, potting a striped ball. “She didn’t ask me before she pulled it out, though,” he says. “I woke up to her tying a string around it and a door handle. Also, Krav, you’re on spots.” 

“I was sick of your whining!” She says. “Honestly, it was all he’d talk about. That and the huge crush he had on that guy from the other caravan -” 

“Don’t go there, Lulu, because you’ve had more embarrassing crushes than I do,” Taako warns. 

“No, I’d quite like to hear about my darling beau’s crushes,” Kravitz says, with a devilish grin. 

“And I’d like to hear about Lup’s,” Barry agrees. “Is it true you had a crush on a clown?” 

Kravitz and Taako laugh as Lup shoots betrayed eyes at her brother. “You told him?” She demands. “You swore an _oath,_ Taako -” 

“I had my fingers crossed, dipshit!” He crows. “Every five-year-old knows to check for that!” 

“He was funny,” she says, miserably, by way of explanation. 

“He _was_ a clown,” Barry says, putting his hands up in surrender when Lup rounds on him. “Just - no judgement! I was just saying!” 

“He was funny _outside of the clown costume,”_ Lup insists. “But evidently there’s a trend forming here, since I’m dating a clown right now.” 

Barry gasps, holding a hand to his heart like he’s been mortally wounded. “Ouch.” 

“Lup, keep that talk in the bedroom,” Taako says. “Don’t do your clown roleplay in front of me and my boy.” 

She starts looking around for something to throw at her brother’s head, but gets distracted when Kravitz takes his shot, immediately potting a spotted ball. “Oh, excellent,” he says. “Beginner’s luck, I suppose.” 

Taako gives him something of a suspicious look, but seems to think nothing further of it. Kravitz has obviously realised Lup and Barry are aware of what’s happening, because he gives them a grin and a wink and as Taako bends to line up his own shot. 

“You know Lucretia is thinking about coming to Neverwinter?” Barry asks. “We’ll practically all be together, still.” 

“Maggie said he couldn’t bear to see us all go and not come with,” Taako says, straightening up after another shot – a miss, this time. “So he’s coming too. And Merle can drive, so he and Cap’n’port can come down whenever.” 

“Aw, fuck yeah,” Lup says. “It’d suck to have to make a whole group of new friends. Can you imagine? I don’t wanna talk to new people.” 

“You _do_ have bad taste,” Taako says. “Remember your first friend when we first moved -” 

“Fuckin’ Greg Grimmaldis,” Lup mutters to herself, her face darkening. “Still owes me fifteen fuckin’ dollars -” 

“Well, anyway,” Taako intervenes, before she can go off on too much of a tangent. “Obviously the most important task now is to find the best club near campus. Lulu, we gotta bust out the five-point scale again -” 

“Oh, fuck yeah,” Lup says. “You’re so right, Ko. Bear, I hope you’re ready to come to every club within an hour’s radius and try every drink on the menu with us.” 

“What, like, in one night?” He asks, appalled. “Lup, we’ll die. We’ll actually get alcohol poisoning.” 

“Coward,” she grumbles, but relents. “We can do it over a few weeks.” 

“What are the five points?” Kravitz asks. 

“Proximity, alcohol selection, music, vibes, and karaoke,” she says. “It took us six weeks to settle on a club, last time, because Taako likes _bloody Marys_ and he insists that no one makes ‘em right -” 

“They don’t!” 

“Taako, it’s vodka, tomato juice, salt and tobasco, what the fuck is there to get wrong? You take a sip and it _doesn’t_ make you vomit and you’re like ‘well, this is unconscionable’ -” 

“You’re just bitter because every cocktail you have has to be sweeter than my coffee order,” Taako shoots back. 

Kravitz interrupts the twin fight by handing the cue back to Taako. “Here, darling. It’s your turn.” 

Taako blinks at the table. “Did you pocket two balls?” 

Kravitz shrugs, modestly, but it’s undercut by the evil grin on his face. 

“You _did!”_ Taako insists. “Krav, wait, this totally isn’t your first time playing pool. And you made me teach you how to hold the cue?” The goofy grin on his face drops. “Hold on. You made me bet my shoes.” 

“I didn’t _make_ you, love,” Kravitz says, mildly. “Actually, if I remember, you insisted upon a wager in the first place. I tried to talk you out of it.” 

“You - you tricked me!” Taako clearly can’t make up his mind whether to be proud or furious, but he eventually settles on competitive. He narrows his eyes and rolls his shoulders, stretching his arms. “Okay, well, I’m not taking it easy any more, that’s for sure. No more mister nice Taako.” 

Lup nudges Barry. “It’s on, now. There’s a reason me and Ko don’t play together, it gets violent.” 

He laughs. “You talk about it like it’s a contact sport, Lup. You hit the little balls with a stick, how violent can it get?” 

“I mean, it’s a game that arms you with a club each and sixteen projectiles. Really, they should’ve expected it when they designed the game,” she insists. “If and when Taako loses we’d better be ready to clear out before the cops arrive. He’ll start throwing things.” 

Barry can only chuckle as Taako lines up a shot, his face a mask of concentration, and pots one of his balls. “Ooh, how’d you like that, Krav?” He grins. “Bet you weren’t expecting that one.” 

“I’ve got you right where I want you,” Kravitz smiles, and Taako scowls. 

“You could at least pretend to be worried, you shark,” he says. 

“Love, I’d almost feel bad if you hadn’t tried to con me out of my shoes to begin with,” Kravitz replies. “You should’ve accepted my two dollars.” 

Lup slings an arm around Barry’s shoulders, snuggling up against him. “This is nice, huh?” She says, as Taako whoops to distract Kravitz as he takes his shot. “I hope you’re ready to live with these two idiots next year.” 

“I’m sure I can stomach it,” he says, “if it also means living with you.” 

She can feel her cheeks flushing, and she scowls to try to cover it up. “Hey! You can’t - you – that’s not fair,” she protests. “You’ve gotta warn a gal.” 

“It’s true!” He says, laughing and leaning into her. “I didn’t even mean that to fluster you, I just – I love you. I can’t wait to live together.” 

“Aw,” she says. “That’s cute. Even though I know you’re only really interested in eating my cooking every night.” 

“Okay, that’s a _part_ of it,” he admits with a grin. “But, listen, even if you made me cook every night it’d be worth it.” 

“I’d never do that,” she says. “Mostly because I worry about our health, but also because I love you.” 

“Lup, I’ve made it this far without keeling over,” he defends himself. “It’s only been four years -” 

“Oh, nice shot, Krav,” she interrupts. “Taako, you’re not looking so good.” 

Taako barely spares her a glance, intensely focused on the game. “I can – I can hop the cue ball over the eight, and pocket that one. Easy peasy.” 

Kravitz leans back and takes a sip from his glass, grinning all the while. Taako takes a deep breath, exhales, and skips the white ball, but he misjudges the shot and it hits the black, only barely avoiding prematurely potting it and losing him the game. 

“Fuck,” he mumbles, as Kravitz strikes a pose. 

“Foul!” Lup takes great pleasure in announcing in a commentator voice. “It’s not looking good for Taako, here, because he’s playing like shit. Will his arrogance be his undoing? As in most things, almost certainly.” 

“I can win this,” Taako protests. “I’ve never had to walk home barefoot so far and it’s not happening tonight.” 

“Hon, I’m not going to make you walk home barefoot,” Kravitz says. “You can keep your shoes. I’ll just claim bragging rights.” 

Both Taako and Lup protest simultaneously. “I don’t need charity -” Taako erupts, just as Lup says, “don’t let him off the hook, Krav!” 

Both twins glare at each other. Kravitz grins, catlike in his glee at the chaos he’s created. Barry just sips his drink, having witnessed far too many twin fights to be overly concerned about this one. 

“Anyway,” Kravitz says. “I think I get to put the cue ball wherever I so choose, now, correct?” 

Taako scowls. “You know you do, you dick, you don’t need to rub it in.” 

Kravitz chuckles and leans in to peck Taako on the cheek. The elf clearly struggles to maintain his scowl as the corners of his mouth pull upwards, and Kravitz goes back to the table. 

He places the cue ball back on the table and takes a shot, but misses what should’ve been an easy pot, sending both the cue ball and his target spinning. “Shit,” he mutters. 

“Krav, c’mon, I told you I don’t need charity,” Taako says. “That said, no redos, I’m keeping that.” 

They watch the game unfold for a minute longer, before Lup says, “you know, this is exactly what I wanted.” 

“What, a pool game rapidly descending into physical violence?” Barry jokes. 

“No, goofus, just – _this.”_ She gestures to herself, Barry, and Taako and Kravitz. “You know. It’s - it’s only been a few months, and everything’s changed. You and me, I mean. This is exactly what I was wishing for. I – a big part of why I wanted to ask you out before class ended was so we could find somewhere together, and now here we are, right? We’re gonna live together, and go to my dream school, and – it's just perfect. And even Taako’s got Kravitz, even though he always said I was gross for crushing on you -” 

“You were!” Taako calls across the pool table. “Disgusting!” 

As they watch, though, Kravitz wraps his arms around Taako’s waist from behind and kisses his cheek, and Lup makes vomiting noises as Taako cranes his neck to kiss his boyfriend. 

“Anyway,” she says, “it’s literally what I always dreamed of. We – you know. Family.” 

He doesn’t even say anything, just presses a kiss to her lips, and he tastes faintly of his beer but Lup still can’t get enough. “I love you,” he says. “You - I feel the same way. Since I met you, you know, I felt – it feels like we’re meant to be together. You always know exactly what to say to make me laugh, and you’re smart and kind and – I love you.” 

“I love you too,” she replies, leaning in for another kiss. 

They break apart to the sound of groans from Taako – Kravitz has potted all of his balls, with only the eight ball remaining. 

“Not lookin’ good, Taako,” she says. “Looks like someone’s going barefoot.” 

“It’s not over ‘til it’s over,” he insists. “I’ve come back from worse than this -” 

As he’s talking, Kravitz pots the black in a flamboyant manoeuvre in which the cue ball slaloms between two of Taako’s balls to hit the perfect shot. 

“Fuck,” Taako says, emphatically. 

Lup and Barry cheer as he kicks off his shoes and tosses them at Kravitz. “Here, you bastard, just take them.” 

“Love, I really don’t want your shoes,” he protests, but Taako shakes his head. 

“You made your bed, now lie in it,” he says. “I’m walking home barefoot if it’s the last thing I do.” 

“I hope it’s not started raining, Ko,” Lup teases. “You could end up with frostbite.” 

“If I do, we all know who’s to blame.” 

“You?” Barry suggests, mildly. “You’re the idiot who bet your shoes.” 

“Alright,” Taako says. “I’m being viciously attacked for no reason -” 

“Taako, just put your shoes back on,” Kravitz pleads. “This - this is worse than if I’d lost. I wish I’d just let you win.” 

“It’s always better,” Taako sniffs. “Remember that next time. Anyway, you can give me a piggyback home, I’ll be fine.” 

Kravitz sighs. “You’re so stubborn.” 

“He _is,_ right?” Lup grins. “If you think this is bad, don’t ever play mario kart with him -” 

“Okay, fuck _you,”_ Taako says, shoving her. “You only win because you play dirty.” 

Kravitz laughs. “How do you play dirty in mario kart?” 

“She always tries to knock the controllers out of my hands,” Taako elaborates. 

“They’re both terrible losers,” Barry says, conspiratorially. “Just let them win. I’ve been doing that for four years at mario kart -” 

“You _do not_ let us win!” Taako exclaims. “You’re _awful_ at mario kart! You come in twelfth every time -” Barry winks at him, and Taako scowls. “I don’t believe it for a second,” he insists. “No way.” 

“Is it even possible to come in twelfth _every_ time?” Kravitz muses. “Maybe he really is a secret prodigy.” 

Lup takes a sip of her drink as her best friends bicker, lacing her fingers into Barry’s under the table. This really is perfect. It’s everything she’s ever wanted and it’s better than she could’ve imagined, and she can't wait to start her new life here with her family. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I can't believe I'm done!! This is my longest fic by something like 40,000 words, which is practically twice as long as the next longest thing I've ever written, and I'm so proud of it and happy it's finally finished :3 I hope everyone liked the finale, please leave a comment if you did <3 thank you all for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!!! Maybe leave a comment or a kudos, or follow my [tumblr?](https://sgrumby.tumblr.com/) Thank you!


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